본 연구에서는 연인 간 대화상황에서 객관적으로 측정한 인지적 공감, 정서적 공감과 관계만족과의 관련성을 알아보고자 하였다. 이를 위해 1개월 이상 연애를 지속한 커플 50쌍(총 100명)을 대상으로 연구를 실시하였다. 먼저 인구통계학적 정보와 관계만족도를 자기보고식으로 측정한 후 독립된 공간에서 연인과 좋았던 순간과 좋지 않았던 순간에 대해 3분씩 총 6분 동안 대화를 나누게 하고 이를 촬영하였다. 대화 후 참가자는 자신의 영상을 보며 대화 중 경험한 긍정/부정정서를 기록하였고, 상대방의 영상을 보고 상대방이 대화 중 경험하였을 것으로 추측되는 긍정/부정정서를 동일한 방식으로 기록하였다. 상대방의 긍정/부정정서를 얼마나 정확하게 추론하였는지를 계산하여 정서인식정확도라 명명하고 이를 인지적 공감이라 조작적으로 정의하였다. 실험 종료 후 제3의 평정자 2인이 영상을 보고, 영상 속 사람이 대화 중 표현하는 긍정/부정정서를 기록하였다. 이후 연인간의 정서 표현이 얼마나 일치하였는지를 계산하여 정서표현일치도라 명명하고 이를 정서적 공감이라 조작적 정의하였다. 본 연구의 결과는 다음과 같다. 첫째, 긍정적 대화 중 정서인식정확도와 정서표현일치도는 관계만족도와 정적 상관이 있었다. 둘째, 긍정적 대화 중 여성의 정서인식정확도는 여성의 관계만족도를 예측하였고, 긍정적 대화 중 연인의 정서표현일치도는 남성의 관계만족도를 예측하였다. 마지막으로 본 연구가 가지는 의의와 한계점에 대해 논의하였다.
This study examined whether objectively measured cognitive empathy and affective empathy are associated with romantic relationship. The experiment involved 50 couple who had been dating for more than a month. They completed self-report measures of relationship period and satisfaction, then talked for six minutes about good and bad moments and memories with their partner. They were recorded in a room without the researcher. After the conversation, the participants recorded their positive/negative emotion every second during conversation and the positive/negative emotion that their partner may have experienced during the conversation in the same way. We calculated how accurately the partner's positive/negative emotion were inferred―emotion recognition accuracy―and operationally defined it as cognitive empathy. After the experiment, objective raters watched the video and recorded the positive/negative emotions expressed by each participant in the conversation. We calculated the match in emotional expressions of the romantic relation―emotional expression uniformity―and operationally defined it as affective empathy. The results of this study are: First, cognitive and affective empathy in positive conversation is positively correlated with relationship satisfaction. Second, women’s cognitive empathy in positive conversation predicts women’s relationship satisfaction, and a couple’s affective empathy in positive conversation predicts men’s relationship satisfaction. Finally, the implications and limitations of this study are discussed.
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