RCGD Fall Seminar Series on the Science of Social Relationships: Brett J. Peters

Brett Peters of Ohio University joins the RCGD Fall Seminar Series on the Science of Social Relationships.

Co-rumination is a social emotion regulation strategy characterized by extensive and exhaustive discussions of stressors and negative emotions with another person. Typically, greater co-rumination is associated with more intrapersonal costs (e.g., negative affect) and interpersonal benefits (e.g., closeness), indicative of what is known as the “trade-off hypothesis.” While research establishing the costs and benefits associated with co-rumination has been formative, our understanding of co-rumination can be enhanced by embracing its dyadic and social nature. Through a social psychological lens, our team paves a way forward by offering a new theoretical conceptualization with which to view co-rumination that emphasizes the need to explicitly examine the dyadic and social nature of co-rumination and to reconsider what are “costs” and “benefits” of co-rumination based on the social context in which it is embedded. I will review how our research team got to these theoretical points by discussing findings from 7 studies and 1,511 individuals. After, I will outline our future directions using this theoretical reconceptualization of co-rumination. We hope this work may help us to better understand difficult and upsetting conversations with close others, ultimately improving recommendations for how individuals seek and provide support through challenging times.

About the Series:

Humans are social animals and from the earliest days of life, are dependent on the quality of social relationships with significant others: family, kin, friends, and a growing social network of online acquaintances. But, how do we conduct research and come to understand the social processes transpiring in these significant social connections with others? What are the consequences for individual development and mental health outcomes of having close intimate relationships in one’s life? There is also a darker side to some relationships in the form of violence, aggression, and conflict. How do we study these processes? Social media and artificial intelligence have opened up new ways of thinking about “what is a social relationship?” and how many of these “friends” can one truly have.

The speakers for this series will focus on different types of social relationships, spanning family and parent-child relationships, friendships, peer networks, romantic relationships, attachment relationships, and the use of online media to maintain social connections. Although several speakers are senior scholars with extensive research backgrounds in the field, many are junior scholars who are traversing new paths into the science of social relationships. Please join us Mondays to learn more about the exciting field of social relationships!

These events are held Mondays from 3:30 to 5.
In person: ISR Thompson 1430, unless otherwise specified.
Organized by Brenda Volling and Richard Gonzalez.
As permissions allow, seminars are later posted to our YouTube playlist.