Empathic Accuracy and Aggression in Couples: Individual and Dyadic Links.

The authors examined links between intimate partner aggression and empathic accuracy-how accurately partners can read one another's emotions-during highly affective moments from couples' ( = 109) video recall of laboratory-based discussions of upsetting events. Less empathic accuracy between partners was generally related to higher levels of aggression by both partners. More specific patterns emerged based on the type of aggression and emotion being expressed.