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Category: Project

Description: Psychological science is in a transitional period: Many findings do not replicate and theories appear not as robust as previously presumed. We suspect that a main reason for theories not appearing as robust is because they are too simple. In this paper, we provide an important step towards this transition in the field of interpersonal relationship research by 1) providing an overarching theoretical framework grounded in existing relationship science, and 2) outlining a novel approach - mobile social physiology – that relies on intelligent technologies like wearable sensors, actuators, and modern analytical methods. At the core of our theoretical principles is co-regulation (one partner’s [statistical] co-dependency on the other partner). Co-regulation has long existed in the literature, but has to date been largely untested. To test the outlined principles, we 3) present a newly programmed app – the Bio-App for Bonding (available on GitHub: https://github.com/co-relab/bioapp). By providing a paradigm shift for relationship research, the field can not only increase the accuracy of measurement and the generalizability of findings, it also allows for moving from the lab to real life situations. We discuss how the mobile social physiology approach is rooted in existing theoretical principles (e.g., Social Baseline and Attachment Theory), extends the concept of co-regulation to allow for specific measurements, and provides a research agenda to develop a model of interpersonal relationships that we hope will stand the test of time.