Perceived Emotions During Conflict Jill Morris November 18, 2012 City University – SCI306 Health and Wellness Abstract I am evaluating the journal “Perceived Threat and Perceived Neglect: Couples’ Underlying Concerns During Conflict” by Keith Sanford. In this journal, Sanford’s studies assess the 2 primary types of distress that couples undergo during conflicts. “Perceived threat involves a perception that one’s partner is blaming and controlling the self. Perceived neglect involves a perception that one’s partner is failing to make desired contributions or investments.” (Sanford, 2010, p. 288) Couples were asked to examine an actual [Cliché: "actual" and "actually" are weak words whose meaning is nothing more than "in point of fact." They are often used as intensifiers but usually can be deleted with no change in meaning ] occasion of conflict in their personal relationship and rate their responses to different words to describe them self or their partner. The results recommend that an assessment of underlying concerns can supply vital information about how people’s aspects differ in conflicts. Perceived Emotions During Conflict Within any romantic relationship, conflicts inevitably occur. Sanford’s studies demonstrate that how people perceive their partner’s emotions during conflict considerably drives different types of reactions, thoughts and feelings. Sanford’s study found connections between different kinds of emotion, underlying concern, and perceived partner emotion. During a conflict, your underlying concern is your fundamental reason for feeling upset. It is the fuel that feeds the conflict. To resolve conflict, it is important for each partner to recognize their underlying concerns. Perceived Threat and Perceived Neglect “Perceived threat involves a perception that one’s partner is blaming and controlling the self. Perceived neglect involves a perception that one’s partner is failing to make desired contributions or investments.” (Sanford, 2010, p. 288) In cases of perceived threat, a person may be "more interested in receiving demonstrations of deference, expressions of appreciation and reductions in hostility." (p. 296) "Perceived threat and perceived neglect are especially important because they appear to be two fundamental types of concern that can be reliably measured, which are clearly distinct from each other, and which couples often experience during a conflict," Sanford writes. (p. 295) “When people have underlying concerns regarding a perceived threat or perceived neglect, they may be likely to engage in reflexive, emotionally charged behavior that, at least initially, serves to escalate conflict interaction.” (p.289) Sanford notes that concerns of perceived neglect may be "best resolved when a person receives an apology and then makes a decision to forgive. In contrast, a person concerned about a perceived threat may be more interested in receiving demonstrations of deference, expressions of appreciation, and reductions in hostility." (p. 296) Hard, Soft, and Flat Emotions Sanford identified three types of emotional responses that are [Writing suggestion: rewrite the sentence to remove "that are"] common during conflict: hard emotion, soft emotion, and flat emotion. Hard emotion is a selfish emotion that encompasses feelings of anger, contempt, and aggravation as well as other negative emotions associated with asserting power and control in a relationship.” (Maldonado, 2009, p. 2) Soft emotion is a “pro-social emotion” that includes feelings of sadness, hurt, and other negative emotions affiliated with vulnerability. (p. 2) Flat emotion is affiliated with “disengagement from a relationship” and includes apathy, boredom and disinterest. (Sanford, 2010, p. 289) Recognizing these three kinds of emotion in the midst of