{"id":462812,"date":"2020-11-24T17:04:21","date_gmt":"2020-11-24T22:04:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=462812"},"modified":"2023-10-16T10:20:40","modified_gmt":"2023-10-16T14:20:40","slug":"psychological-flexibility-romantic-familial-relationships-462812","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/psychological-flexibility-romantic-familial-relationships-462812\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s the secret ingredient that makes a happy couple or family?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Analysis shows those who are psychologically flexible have better romantic and family relationships.<\/h2>\n
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In the news<\/h2>\n

Watching and discussing movies with your partner that feature onscreen couples can have a positive effect on your relationship, Ronald Rogge recently told People<\/em> magazine<\/a>. It\u2019s an easy exercise that \u201ccould be a lifesaver during quarantine,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Which movies work? As Good as It Gets<\/em>, Funny Girl<\/em>, Gone with the Wind<\/em>, Love Story<\/em>, Indecent Proposal<\/em>, The Devil Wears Prada<\/em>, and Father of the Bride<\/em> are a few of the films Rogge and his fellow researchers used<\/a>\u00a0in their 2013 study<\/a>\u00a0of couples.<\/p>\n

Looking for some LGBTQ recommendations? Rogge suggests The Kids Are Alright<\/em>, The Wedding Banquet<\/em>, The Birdcage<\/em>, and episodes of Grace and Frankie<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Learn more about Rogge\u2019s couples research<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cHappy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,\u201d Leo Tolstoy wrote famously in 1878 in the opening lines of Anna Karenina<\/em>. Turns out the Russian author was onto something.<\/p>\n

Cohesive families, indeed, seem to share a few critical traits\u2014psychologists agree. Being emotionally flexible may be one of the most important factors when it comes to longevity and overall health of your romantic and familial relationships.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the finding of a new University of Rochester<\/a> meta-analysis, published in the Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science<\/em><\/a>, which statistically combined the results of 174 separate studies that had looked at acceptance and commitment therapy, mindfulness, and emotion regulation.<\/p>\n

The researchers\u2019 aim was to clarify how mindful flexibility\u2014on one hand\u2014and inattentive, mindless, and rigid inflexibility on the other\u2014were linked to the dynamics within families and romantic relationships.<\/p>\n

\u201cPut simply,\u201d says coauthor Ronald Rogge<\/a>, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Rochester, \u201cthis meta-analysis underscores that being mindful and emotionally flexible in tough and challenging situations not only improves the lives of individuals, it might also strengthen and enrich their close relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n

Psychological flexibility versus inflexibility<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Psychological flexibility is defined as a set of skills that people use when they\u2019re presented with difficult or challenging thoughts, feelings, emotions, or experiences. Such skills encompass:<\/p>\n