Acts of compassion both raise the giver’s positive affect because they feel
like a valuable presence in others’ lives (Singer & Klimecki, 2014), and
they increase the feelings of closeness between the giver and receiver
(Mongrain, Chin, & Shapira, 2010). However, we know little about the
contexts of daily married life that trigger these acts. In this
naturalistic, multi-method study, 30 married couples were filmed in their
homes and communities across four days and all instances of spontaneous
compassion expressions were identified. We developed a video coding scheme
to reliably detect the characteristics of the compassion giver and receiver
as well as the contexts in which these compassion moments take place. By
gaining a clearer picture of marital compassion in daily life, we can
implement aspects of these positive interactions into interventions to help
improve the mental health and relationships of individuals in both
maladaptive and stable home environments. We can also further explore how
these interactions between the marital couple could positively affect
others in the home, such as their children.