Emily A Butler

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Scholarly Contributions

Chapters

• Butler, E. A. (2018). RC1: * Next steps towards understanding interpersonal emotion dynamics.. In Interpersonal Emotion Dynamics in Personal Relationships.
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  Included as "accepted" in 2017.
• Butler, E. A., Guan, J., Predoehl, A., Brau, E., Simek, K., & Barnard, J. J. (2017). RC1: Counted as accepted last year: Computational interpersonal emotion systems. In Computational Models in Social Psychology.

Journals/Publications

• Butler, E. A., & Barnard, K. J. (2019). RC1: Quantifying interpersonal dynamics for studying socio-emotional processes and adverse health behaviors.. Psychosomatic Medicine, 81(8), 749-758.
• Fonseca, A. L., Kamble, S., Duggi, D., Flores, M., & Butler, E. A. (2018). RC1: Daily emotion regulation in American and Asian-Indian romantic couples.. Journal of Comparative Family Studies..
• Fonseca, A. L., Koyama, J., & Butler, E. A. (2018). RC1: The role of family of origin in current lifestyle choices: A qualitative secondary data analysis of interracial and same-race couples.. Family & Community Health, 41(3), 146–158.
• Haynes, P. L., Silva, G. E., Howe, G. W., Thomson, C. A., Butler, E. A., Sherrill, D., Quan, S. F., Scanlon, M., Rojo-Wissar, D. M., Gengler, D. N., & Glickenstein, D. A. (2018). RC1: * Longitudinal assessment of daily activity patterns on weight change after involuntary job loss: the ADAPT study protocol.. BMC Public Health.
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  Included as "accepted" in 2017.
• Milek, A., Butler, E. A., Allison, T. M., Kaplan, D. D., Raison, C. L., Sbarra, D. A., Vazire, S., & Mehl, M. R. (2018). RC1: “Eavesdropping on happiness” revisited: A pooled, multi-sample replication of the association between life satisfaction and observed daily conversation quantity and quality.. Psychological Science, 29(9), 1451-1462. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797618774252
• Skoyen, J. A., Rentscher, K. E., & Butler, E. A. (2018). RC1: * Relationship quality and shared unhealthy behaviors predict body mass index in women.. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.
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  Included as "accepted" in 2016
• Butler, E. A. (2017). RC1: Emotions are temporal interpersonal systems.. Current Opinion on Psychology, 17, 129-134.
• Reed, R. G., O'Conner, M., Pace, T. W., Raison, C. L., & Butler, E. A. (2017). RC1: * Counted as accepted last year: Dyadic coping and salivary interleukin-6 responses to interpersonal stress. Journal of Family Psychology.
• Reed, R. G., Weihs, K. L., Sbarra, D. A., Breen, E. C., Irwin, M. R., & Butler, E. A. (2017). RC1: * Counted as accepted last year: Emotional acceptance, inflammation, and sickness symptoms across the first two years following breast cancer diagnosis.. Brain, Behavior and Immunity.
• Butler, E. A. (2015). Interpersonal affect dynamics: It takes two (and time) to tango.. Emotion Review.
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  ISI 2009 5-year journal impact factor = 2.45 (27/126 in Multidisciplinary Psychology)
• Guan, J., Brau, E., Simek, K., Morrison, C. T., Butler, E. A., & Barnard, K. J. (2015). Moderated and Drifting Linear Dynamical Systems. International Conference on Machine Learning.
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  This venue is a peer reviewed, competitive conference (acceptance rate: 26%) and the full paper is published as part of the conference proceedings
• Koval, P., Butler, E. A., Hollenstein, T., Lanteigne, D., & Kuppens, P. (2015). Emotion regulation and the temporal dynamics of emotions: Effects of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression on emotional inertia.. Cognition and Emotion.
• Milek, A., Butler, E. A., & Bodenmann, G. (2015). The interplay of couple’s shared time, women’s intimacy, and intradyadic stress. Journal of Family Psychology.
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  ISI 2014 5-year journal impact factor = 2.58 (10/40 in Family Studies)
• Reed, R. G., Barnard, K., & Butler, E. A. (2015). Distinguishing co-regulation from co-dysregulation: An investigation of emotional dynamics and body-weight in romantic couples.. Emotion.
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  ISI 2009 5-year journal impact factor = 5.24 (6/84 in Experimental Psychology)
• Totenhagen, C. J., Butler, E. A., Curran, M. A., & Serido, J. (2015). The calm after the storm: Relationship length as associated with couples’ daily variability. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.
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  ISI 2014 5-year journal impact factor = 1.83 (34/62 in Social Psychology)
• Butler, E. A. (2014). A dynamic state-space analysis of interpersonal emotion regulation in couples who smoke.. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships..
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  ISI 2014 5-year journal impact factor = 1.83 (34/62 in Social Psychology)
• Butler, E. A., Gross, J. J., & Barnard, K. (2014). Testing the effects of suppression and reappraisal on emotional concordance using a multivariate multilevel model.. Biological Psychology., 98, 6-18.
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  ISI 2009 5-year journal impact factor = 4.34 (2/14 in Biological Psychology)
• Skoyen, J. A., Randall, A. K., Mehl, M. R., & Butler, E. A. (2014). “We” overeat, but “I” can stay thin: Pronoun use and body weight in couples who eat to regulate emotion.. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 33, 742-765.
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  ISI 2009 5-year journal impact factor = 2.01 (24/58 in Social Psychology)
• Butler, E. A., & Randall, A. K. (2013). Author reply: Coregulation is a state of a temporal interpersonal emotion system. Emotion Review, 5(2), 213-214.
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  Abstract: People in an emotional exchange form a temporal interpersonal emotion system (TIES), in which their emotions are interconnected over time (Butler, 2011). These systems can be in various states, defined by the pattern of emotional interconnections. We have defined coregulation as one such state involving coupled dampened oscillations between partners' emotions that converge on a stable level. Coregulation could be distinguished from other states, such as stress buffering, by comparing statistical models that represent the theoretical distinctions between states. Optimal data for such modeling includes assessments of both partners' emotions over time and a contrast between securely attached partners, strangers, and being alone. Research of this sort is needed to uncover the mechanisms by which emotional interdependence promotes well-being. © The Author(s) 2013.
• Butler, E. A., & Randall, A. K. (2013). Emotional coregulation in close relationships. Emotion Review, 5(2), 202-210.
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  Abstract: Coregulation refers to the process by which relationship partners form a dyadic emotional system involving an oscillating pattern of affective arousal and dampening that dynamically maintains an optimal emotional state. Coregulation may represent an important form of interpersonal emotion regulation, but confusion exists in the literature due to a lack of precision in the usage of the term. We propose an operational definition for coregulation as a bidirectional linkage of oscillating emotional channels between partners, which contributes to emotional stability for both partners. We propose several distinctions and raise unanswered questions that will need to be addressed in order to understand the relevance of coregulation for well-being in adulthood. © The Author(s) 2012.
• Butler, E. A., & Sbarra, D. A. (2013). Health, emotion, and relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.
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  ISI 2009 5-year journal impact factor = 1.32 (38/60 in Social Psychology)in press in 2012
• Meltzer, A. L., Novak, S. A., McNulty, J. K., Butler, E. A., & Karney, B. R. (2013). Marital satisfaction predicts weight gain in early marriage.. Health Psychology.
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  ISI 2009 5-year journal impact factor =5.02 (8/114 in Clinical Psychology)in press in 2012
• Randall, A. K., & Butler, E. A. (2013). Attachment and emotion transmission within romantic relationships: Merging intrapersonal and interpersonal perspectives.. Journal of Relationships Research.
• Randall, A. K., Post, J. H., Reed, R. G., & Butler, E. A. (2013). Cooperating with your romantic partner: Associations with interpersonal emotion coordination. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 30(8), 1072-1095.
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  Abstract: Romantic partners' emotions become coordinated in various ways and this may have implications for well-being (Butler (2011) Temporal interpersonal emotion systems: The "TIES" that form relationships. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 15, 367-393.). The present study uses a community sample of 44 committed heterosexual couples to examine whether cooperation, a generally beneficial relational process, is associated with emotional coordination and whether the pattern differs when men's emotions are coordinated with their female partners' prior emotions or vice versa. Using behavioral observations of cooperation and second-to-second measures of emotional experience during a face-to-face conversation, men showed the most positive emotional experience at high levels of mutual cooperation. As predicted, cooperation was associated with different coordination patterns for men and women, with high mutual cooperation predicting an inphase pattern for men (emotions changing in unison with their partners) and an antiphase pattern for women (emotions changing in opposite directions from their partners). Our results suggest that men and women may experience cooperation differently, despite engaging in similar behaviors. © The Author(s) 2013.
• Reed, R. G., Butler, E. A., & Kenny, D. A. (2013). Dyadic models for the study of health. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 7(4), 228-245.
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  Abstract: Dyadic designs have been used in health research to investigate intra- and inter-personal mechanisms of health and well-being in various types of dyads, including parent-child dyads, siblings, friends, and romantic partners. Although a growing number of researchers are designing studies that capture the interdependent complexities of relationships, many still need more information on how to analyze the data in a way that maximizes its value. Therefore, the purpose of this review paper is twofold: (1) to address some of the ways in which dyadic data analysis is being used in current health research, with an emphasis on research that has employed the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model, and (2) to propose and explain various methodological and substantive considerations that researchers should consider when using dyadic data analysis in their own research. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
• Reed, R. G., Randall, A. K., Post, J. H., & Butler, E. A. (2013). Partner influence and in-phase versus anti-phase physiological linkage in romantic couples.. International Journal of Psychophysiology.
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  ISI 2009 5-year journal impact factor = 2.66 (7/14 in Biological Psychology)in press in 2012
• Roberts, N., Manos, R. C., Kantor, J. W., Butler, E. A., & Baker, D. (2013). Dyadic synchrony in police marriages: A preliminary investigation.. Family Process, 271-283.
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  ISI 2009 5-year journal impact factor = 2.20 (10/38 in Family Studies) in press in 2012
• Skoyen, J. A., Blank, E., Corkery, S. A., & Butler, E. A. (2013). The interplay of partner influence and individual values predicts daily fluctuations in eating and physical activity.. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.
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  ISI 2009 5-year journal impact factor = 1.32 (38/60 in Social Psychology)
• Totenhagen, C. J., Curran, M. A., Serido, J., & Butler, E. A. (2013). Good days, bad days: Do sacrifices improve relationship quality?. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.
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  ISI 2009 5-year journal impact factor = 1.32 (38/60 in Social Psychology)in press in 2012
• Burke, T. J., Randall, A. K., Corkery, S. A., Young, V. J., & Butler, E. A. (2012). "You're going to eat that?" Relationship processes and conflict among mixed-weight couples. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 29(8), 1109-1130.
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  Abstract: This study examines conflict among heterosexual mixed-weight (i.e., one overweight and one healthy weight partner) and matched-weight couples (N = 43 couples). Participant sex, eating together, partner health support, and negative partner influence were examined as moderators of the association between weight status and conflict. Using dyadic models, we found that mixed-weight couples, specifically couples including overweight women and healthy weight men, reported greater conflict both generally and on a daily basis, compared to matched-weight couples; however, general conflict was reduced with greater perceived support from the partner. Mixed-weight couples who reported eating together more frequently also reported greater general conflict. These findings suggest that mixed-weight couples may experience more conflict than matched-weight couples, but perceived support from the partner can buffer this conflict. This research suggests that interpersonal dynamics associated with mixed-weight status might be important for romantic partners' relational and personal health. © The Author(s) 2012.
• Ellis, B. J., Schlomer, G. L., Tilley, E. H., & Butler, E. A. (2011). Impact of fathers on risky sexual behavior in daughters: A genetically and environmentally controlled sibling study. Development and Psychopathology, 24(1), 317-332.
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  PMID: 22293012;Abstract: Girls receiving lower quality paternal investment tend to engage in more risky sexual behavior (RSB) than peers. Whereas paternal investment theory posits that this effect is causal, it could arise from environmental or genetic confounds. To distinguish between these competing explanations, the current authors employed a genetically and environmentally controlled sibling design (N = 101 sister pairs; ages 18-36), which retrospectively examined the effects of differential sibling exposure to family disruption/father absence and quality of fathering. Consistent with a causal explanation, differences between older and younger sisters in the effects of quality of fathering on RSB were greatest in biologically disrupted families when there was a large age gap between the sisters (thus maximizing differential exposure to fathers), with greater exposure within families to higher quality fathering serving as a protective factor against RSB. Further, variation around the lower end of fathering quality appeared to have the most influence on RSB. In contrast, differential sibling exposure to family disruption/father absence (irrespective of quality of fathering) was not associated with RSB. The differential sibling-exposure design affords a new quasi-experimental method for evaluating the causal effects of fathers within families. © Copyright Cambridge University Press 2012.
• Totenhagen, C. J., Butler, E. A., & Ridley, C. A. (2012). Daily stress, closeness, and satisfaction in gay and lesbian couples. Personal Relationships, 19(2), 219-233.
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  Abstract: A daily diary analysis of the associations among stress, closeness, and relationship and sexual satisfaction was conducted with a sample of 40 gay male and 55 lesbian couples. Using interdependence theory as a guide, both actor and partner effects of stress, closeness, and their interaction were investigated. As predicted, it was found that participants' own feelings of closeness toward their partners buffered the negative association between stress and satisfaction but that when participants' partners felt particularly close on a stressful day their closeness exacerbated associations between stress and reduced satisfaction. These contrasting effects of closeness underscore the importance of considering the daily processes of both partners contributing to relationship quality. © 2011 IARR.
• Totenhagen, C., Serido, J., Curran, M., & Butler, E. (2012). Daily hassles and uplifts: A diary study on understanding relationship quality. Journal of Family Psychology, 26(719-728), 719-728.
• Butler, E. (2011). Temporal interpersonal emotion systems: The TIES that form relationships. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 15, 367-393.
• Butler, E. (2011). Three views of emotion regulation and health. Social & Personality Psychology Compass, 5, 563-577.
• Meltzer, A. L., Mcnulty, J. K., Novak, S. A., Butler, E. A., & Karney, B. R. (2011). Marriages are more satisfying when wives are thinner than their husbands. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2(4), 416-424.
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  Abstract: Body weight plays a significant role in attraction and relationship formation, but does it continue to shape more established relationships? The current 4-year longitudinal study of 169 newlywed couples addressed this question by examining the implications of own and partner body mass index (BMI) for the trajectory of marital satisfaction. In contrast to findings from studies of attraction and mate selection, own and partner BMI demonstrated inconsistent effects on the trajectory of satisfaction. However, consistent with predictions derived from interdependence theory, normative resource theories, and evolutionary perspectives, husbands were more satisfied initially and wives were more satisfied over time to the extent that wives had lower BMIs than their husbands, controlling for depression, income, education, and whether the relationship ended in divorce. These findings suggest that a dyadic perspective may be more appropriate than an individual one for understanding how partners' qualities shape established relationships such as marriage. © The Author(s) 2011.
• Randall, A. K., Corkery, S. A., Duggi, D., Kamble, S. V., & Butler, E. A. (2011). "We're having a good (or bad) day": Differences in emotional synchrony in married couples in the United States and India. Family Science, 2(3), 203-211.
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  Abstract: Partners in close relationships often experience similar day-to-day emotions. However, little is known about whether emotional synchrony between partners is similar across marriages in different cultural contexts. We assess differences in levels of synchrony using daily diaries from 35 couples from the United States and 89 couples from India (41 in love marriages, 48 in arranged marriages). Results show group differences in levels of synchrony, with American couples showing greater synchrony than Indian couples. Somewhat surprisingly, synchrony of negative partner-induced emotions was associated with greater marital satisfaction across marriage types, while for Indian-love couples synchrony of positive partner-induced emotions was associated with decreased satisfaction. Finally, synchrony of both positive and negative partner-induced emotions was associated with higher closeness for Indian-love couples, but reduced closeness for American couples. These findings suggest synchrony may not have the same implications for couples' emotional functioning across marriage types. © 2011 Taylor & Francis.
• Butler, E. A., Young, V. J., & Randall, A. K. (2010). Suppressing to please, eating to cope: The effect of overweight women's emotion suppression on romantic relationships and eating. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 29(6), 599-623.
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  Abstract: This study assesses whether overweight women suppress emotion to accommodate their male partners, but in doing so put themselves at risk for excessive eating due to negative emotion and decreased dietary restraint. To investigate this possibility, a community sample of committed heterosexual couples completed baseline measures of height and weight, followed by a daily diary for 7 days assessing emotion suppression, positive and negative feelings about one's partner, and eating behavior. As predicted, on days when women with a higher body-mass index (BMI) reported high levels of suppressing emotions their male partners reported reduced negative feelings towards them and the women reported eating more than normal. These effects were reversed (partner feelings) or nonexistent (eating) for women with lower BMI. These results suggest that overweight and obese women may be caught in a double-bind, such that they please their male partners when they suppress emotion, but in doing so increase their risk of overeating.
• Mauss, I. B., & Butler, E. A. (2010). Cultural context moderates the relationship between emotion control values and cardiovascular challenge versus threat responses. Biological Psychology, 84(3), 521-530.
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  PMID: 19786064;PMCID: PMC2950892;Abstract: Cultural context affects people's values regarding emotions, as well as their experiential and behavioral but not autonomic physiological responses to emotional situations. Little research, however, has examined how cultural context influences the relationships among values and emotional responding. Specifically, depending on their cultural context, individuals' values about emotion control (ECV; the extent to which they value emotion control) may have differing meanings, and as such, be associated with differing responses in emotional situations. We examined this possibility by testing the effect of two cultural contexts (28 female Asian-American (AA) versus 28 female European-American (EA) undergraduate students) on the associations between individuals' ECV and emotional responding (experiential, behavioral, and cardiovascular) to a relatively neutral film clip and a laboratory anger provocation. In the AA group, greater ECV were associated with reduced anger experience and behavior, and a challenge pattern of cardiovascular responding. In the EA group, greater ECV were associated with reduced anger behavior but not anger experience, and a threat pattern of cardiovascular responding. These results are consistent with the notion that individuals' values about emotion are associated with different meanings in different cultural contexts, and in turn, with different emotional and cardiovascular responses. © 2009 Elsevier B.V.
• Mauss, I. B., Butler, E. A., Roberts, N. A., & Chu, A. (2010). Emotion control values and responding to an anger provocation in Asian-American and European-American individuals. Cognition and Emotion, 24(6), 1026-1043.
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  Abstract: The present research examined whether Asian-American (AA) versus European-American (EA) women differed in experiential, expressive, or autonomic physiological responding to a laboratory anger provocation and assessed the mediating role of values about emotional control. Results indicate that AA participants reported and behaviourally displayed less anger than EA participants, while there were no group differences in physiological responses. Observed differences in emotional responses were partially mediated by emotion control values, suggesting a potential mechanism for effects of cultural background on anger responding. © 2009 Psychology Press.
• Butler, E. A., Lee, T. L., & Gross, J. J. (2009). Does expressing your emotions raise or lower your blood pressure?: The answer depends on cultural context. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 40(3), 510-517.
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  Abstract: Emotion-expressive behavior is often but not always inversely related to physiological responding. To test the hypothesis that cultural context moderates the relationship between expressivity and physiological responding, the authors have Asian American and European American women engage in face-to-face conversations about a distressing film in same-ethnicity dyads. Blood pressure is measured continuously, and emotional expressivity is rated from reviewing videotapes. Results indicate that emotion-expressive behavior is inversely related to blood pressure in European American dyads, but the reverse was true in Asian American dyads in which there is a trend toward a positive association. These results suggest that the links between emotion-expressive behavior and physiological responding may depend on cultural context. One possible explanation for this effect may be that cultural contexts shape the meaning that individuals give to emotional expressions that occur during social interactions. © 2009 Sage Publications.
• Rohrbaugh, M. J., Shoham, V., Butler, E. A., Hasler, B. P., & Berman, J. S. (2009). Affective synchrony in dual- and single-smoker couples: Further evidence of "symptom-system fit"?. Family Process, 48(1), 55-67.
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  PMID: 19378645;PMCID: PMC2774814;Abstract: Couples in which one or both partners smoked despite one of them having a heart or lung problem discussed a health-related disagreement before and during a period of laboratory smoking. Immediately afterwards, the partners in these 25 couples used independent joysticks to recall their continuous emotional experience during the interaction while watching themselves on video. A couple-level index of affective synchrony, reflecting correlated moment-to-moment change in the two partners' joystick ratings, tended to increase from baseline to smoking for 9 dual-smoker couples but decrease for 16 single-smoker couples. Results suggest that coregulation of shared emotional experience could be a factor in smoking persistence, particularly when both partners in a couple smoke. Relationship-focused interventions addressing this fit between symptom and system may help smokers achieve stable cessation. © 2009 FPI, Inc.
• Butler, E. A., Lee, T. L., & Gross, J. J. (2007). Emotion regulation and culture: Are the social consequences of emotion suppression culture-specific?. Emotion, 7(1), 30-48.
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  PMID: 17352561;Abstract: Emotional suppression has been associated with generally negative social consequences (Butler et al., 2003; Gross & John, 2003). A cultural perspective suggests, however, that these consequences may be moderated by cultural values. We tested this hypothesis in a two-part study, and found that, for Americans holding Western-European values, habitual suppression was associated with self-protective goals and negative emotion. In addition, experimentally elicited suppression resulted in reduced interpersonal responsiveness during face-to-face interaction, along with negative partner-perceptions and hostile behavior. These deleterious effects were reduced when individuals with more Asian values suppressed, and these reductions were mediated by cultural differences in the responsiveness of the suppressors. These findings suggest that many of suppression's negative social impacts may be moderated by cultural values. © 2007 APA, all rights reserved.
• Shoham, V., Butler, E. A., Rohrbaugh, M. J., & Trost, S. E. (2007). Symptom-system fit in couples: Emotion regulation when one or both partners smoke. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 116(4), 848-853.
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  PMID: 18020731;PMCID: PMC2796476;Abstract: In a laboratory smoking experiment, 25 couples in which 1 or both partners continued to smoke despite 1 of them having heart or lung disease discussed a health-related disagreement before and during a period of smoking. Immediately afterward, the partners used independent joysticks to recall their continuous emotional experience during the interaction while watching themselves on video. Participants in dualsmoker couples reported increased positive emotion contingent upon lighting up, whereas those in single-smoker couples reported the opposite. The results highlight the role of smoking in close relationships, particularly in regulating emotional closeness when both partners smoke. Attention to this fit between symptom and system may be useful in helping couples achieve stable cessation. © the American Psychological Association.
• Butler, E. A., Wilhelm, F. H., & Gross, J. J. (2006). Respiratory sinus arrhythmia, emotion, and emotion regulation during social interaction. Psychophysiology, 43(6), 612-622.
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  PMID: 17076818;Abstract: Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) figures prominently in emotional responding, but its exact role remains unclear. The present study tests two hypotheses: (1) Between-person differences in resting RSA are related to emotional reactivity, and (2) within-person changes in RSA are related to regulatory efforts. Pairs of women watched an upsetting film and discussed it. One woman in each of the experimental dyads was asked to either suppress or to reappraise during the conversation. Their partners and both members of the control dyads conversed naturally. Between-person differences in resting RSA were assessed with paced breathing, and within-person changes in RSA were calculated from baseline to the conversation accounting for respiration. Women with higher resting RSA experienced and expressed more negative emotion, and women who attempted to regulate their emotions either by suppressing or reappraising showed larger increases in RSA than controls. Copyright © 2006 Society for Psychophysiological Research.
• Srivastava, S., McGonigal, K. M., Richards, J. M., Butler, E. A., & Gross, J. J. (2006). Optimism in close relationships: How seeing things in a positive light makes them so. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91(1), 143-153.
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  PMID: 16834485;Abstract: Does expecting positive outcomes - especially in important life domains such as relationships - make these positive outcomes more likely? In a longitudinal study of dating couples, the authors tested whether optimists (who have a cognitive disposition to expect positive outcomes) and their romantic partners are more satisfied in their relationships, and if so, whether this is due to optimists perceiving greater support from their partners. In cross-sectional analyses, both optimists and their partners indicated greater relationship satisfaction, an effect that was mediated by optimists' greater perceived support. When the couples engaged in a conflict conversation, optimists and their partners saw each other as engaging more constructively during the conflict, which in turn led both partners to feel that the conflict was better resolved 1 week later. In a 1-year follow-up, men's optimism predicted relationship status. Effects of optimism were mediated by the optimists' perceived support, which appears to promote a variety of beneficial processes in romantic relationships. Copyright 2006 by the American Psychological Association.
• Butler, E. A., Egloff, B., Wilhelm, F. H., Smith, N. C., Erickson, E. A., & Gross, J. J. (2003). The Social Consequences of Expressive Suppression. Emotion, 3(1), 48-67.
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  PMID: 12899316;Abstract: At times, people keep their emotions from showing during social interactions. The authors' analysis suggests that such expressive suppression should disrupt communication and increase stress levels. To test this hypothesis, the authors conducted 2 studies in which unacquainted pairs of women discussed an upsetting topic. In Study 1, one member of each pair was randomly assigned to (a) suppress her emotional behavior, (b) respond naturally, or (c) cognitively reappraise in a way that reduced emotional responding. Suppression alone disrupted communication and magnified blood pressure responses in the suppressors' partners. In Study 2, suppression had a negative impact on the regulators' emotional experience and increased blood pressure in both regulators and their partners. Suppression also reduced rapport and inhibited relationship formation.
• Richards, J. M., Butler, E. A., & Gross, J. J. (2003). Emotion regulation in romantic relationships: The cognitive consequences of concealing feelings. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 20(5), 599-620.
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  Abstract: People frequently regulate the emotions that arise during tense social interactions. Common regulation strategies include cognitive reappraisal, which involves interpreting a situation in positive terms, and expressive suppression, which involves inhibiting overt signs of inner emotional states. According to our analysis, during tense social interactions reappraisal should (i) increase memory for what was said, whereas suppression should (ii) decrease memory for what was said, and (iii) increase memory for emotions. To test these predictions, we experimentally manipulated reappraisal and suppression in dating couples as they discussed a relationship conflict. As predicted, memory for conversation utterances was increased by reappraisal and decreased by suppression, and memory for emotional reactions was increased by suppression. Self-monitoring mediated the effect of suppression on memory for emotional reactions, but not for conversation utterances. These findings suggest that, if it is important to preserve the fidelity of cognitive functioning during emotionally trying social interactions, some forms of emotion regulation may have more to recommend them than others.

Proceedings Publications

• Guan, J., Brau, E., Simek, K., Morrison, C. T., Butler, E. A., & Barnard, K. J. (2015, July). Moderated and Drifting Linear Dynamical Systems. In International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML 2015).
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  This venue is a peer reviewed, competitive conference (acceptance rate: 26%) and the full paper is published as part of the conference proceedings

Presentations

• Butler, E. A. (2019, Fall). RC2, RA3: Is physiological linkage between people good or bad? It depends.. Invited talk in the Presidential Symposia: Society for Psychophysiological Research.
• Butler, E. A. (2019, Fall). RC2: A new R package (rties) for modeling dynamic interpersonal physiology. Society for Psychophysiological Research.
• Butler, E. A. (2019, Spring). RC2, RA3: Health and interpersonal systems: Some theory, results and modeling tools.. Invited talk at the University of Utah, Psychology Department.
• Butler, E. A. (2019, Spring). RC2, RA3: Modeling interpersonal emotion dynamics.. Invited workshop at the Society for Affective Science.
• Butler, E. A. (2019, Spring). RC2: Introducing a new R package (rties) for modeling interpersonal dynamics.. Society for Personality and Social Psychology.
• Butler, E. A., Glickenstein, D. A., Silva Torres, G. E., Quan, S. F., Thomson, C. A., & Haynes, P. L. (2019, Spring). Inconsistent Social Rhythms are Associated with Higher Waist Circumference Following Job Loss. Society of Behavioral Medicine annual meeting. Washington D.C.: Society of Behavioral Medicine.
• Butler, E. A. (2018, February). RC2, RA3: Health and interpersonal systems.. Invited talk presented to the Psychology Dept., University of Grenoble, France.
• Butler, E. A. (2018, February). RC2, RA3: Modeling dynamic dyadic interaction.. Invited statistical workshop presented to the Psychology Dept, University of Zurich, Switzerland.
• Butler, E. A. (2018, January). RA3, TA9: Invited talk presented to the Centre for Couples and Family Studies, Psychology Department, UA. Internal invited talk.
• Butler, E. A. (2017, Fall). RC2: Quantifying dynamic interpersonal interactions.. American Psychosomatic Society.
• Butler, E. A. (2017, Spring). RC2: How emotional synchrony both contributes to and reflects relationship quality.. International Convention for Psychological Science.
• Butler, E. A., Barnard, K. J., & Guan, J. (2017, Spring). RC2: Dynamic system models for studying physiological linkage.. Society for Personality and Social Psychology.
• Barnard, J. J., Butler, E. A., & Guan, J. (2016, August). Dynamic system modeling infrastructure (DSMI): Past, present and future. Dynamic Systems Modeling Expert Meeting. Aberdeen, U.K.
• Barnard, K., Butler, E. A., & Guan, J. (2016, Fall). Dynamic system modeling infrastructure (DSMI): Past, present and future. Dynamic Systems Modeling Expert Meeting. University of Aberdeen, U.K..
• Butler, E. A. (2016, Spring). Emotion dynamics within and between people (a.k.a., Time Matters). Society for Personality and Social Psychology. San Diego, CA..
• Butler, E. A. (2016, Spring). Interpersonal linkage of respiratory sinus arrhythmia, emotional awareness and social connection. Society for Personality and Social Psychology. San Diego, CA..
• Flores, M. A., & Butler, E. A. (2016, Spring). Ten things I hate about you: Daily negativity, partner influence and support, and daily eating. Society for Personality and Social Psychology. San Diego, CA..
• Butler, E. A. (2015, March). Bayesian generative modeling of emotion in close relationships. International Convention of Psychological Science.
• Butler, E. A. (2015, May). Temporal interpersonal emotion systems: The TIES that form relationships. American Psychological Society.
  More info

  Invited talk.
• Guan, J., Butler, E. A., & Barnard, K. (2015, December). Bayesian generative modeling for complex dynamic social systems. Women in Machine Learning.
• Butler, E. A. (2014, Fall). Conflicting emotions in close relationships: Ambivalence or balance?. Talk presented at the Society for Psychophysiological Research, Atlanta, GA..
• Butler, E. A. (2014, Spring). Modeling dyadic interaction.. Invited statistical workshop presented to the Psychology Department at the University of Zurich, Switzerland..
• Butler, E. A. (2014, Spring). Relationships, emotion, and body weight.. Invited talk presented at the Nutrition Department Seminar, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ..
• Butler, E. A. (2014, Spring). Temporal interpersonal emotion systems: The “TIES” that form relationships.. Invited talk presented to the Psychology Department at Queen’s University, Canada..
• Butler, E. A., & Butler, E. A. (2014, Spring). Temporal interpersonal emotion systems: The “TIES” that form relationships.. Invited talk presented to the Psychology Department at the University of Toronto, Canada..
• Butler, E. A., Guan, J., Reed, R. G., & Barnard, K. (2014, Spring). Computational temporal interpersonal emotion systems (CompTIES).. IInvited talk presented at the Dynamical Systems and Computational Modeling in Social Psychology pre-conference, Austin, Texas..
• Muraco, J. A., Russell, S. T., Curran, M. A., & Butler, E. A. (2014, Fall). Minority stress and public displays of affection in gay and lesbian couples.. Talk presented at the Annual Conference of the National Council on Family Relations, Baltimore, MD..
• Meltzer, A. L., McNulty, J. K., Novak, S. A., Butler, E. A., & Karney, B. R. (2013, January). Marital satisfaction predicting weight gain in early marriage.. Society of Personality and Social Psychology Conference.
• Skoyen, J. A., Blank, E., Corkery, S. A., & Butler, E. A. (2013, January). The interplay of partner influence and individual values predicts daily fluctuations in eating and physical activity.. Society of Personality and Social Psychology Conference.
• Skoyen, J. A., Richardson, E. J., Randall, A. K., Corkery, S. A., Mehl, M. R., & Butler, E. A. (2013, March). "We overeat, but I can stay thin": Pronoun use and BMIs in couples sharing unhealthy eating habits.. American Psychosomatic Society Conference.

Poster Presentations

• Boyd, S., Kuelz, A., & Butler, E. A. (2019, Spring). RC2: Inertia of autonomic markers as predictors of stress.. Society for Personality and Social Psychology.
• Butler, E. A. (2019, Spring). RC2: Interpersonal emotion dynamics and body weight in romantic couples.. Society for Affective Science.
• Kuelz, A., Boyd, S., & Butler, E. A. (2019, Spring). RC2: Coordination patterns of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and emotional experience (EE) as predictors of general stress in couples.. Society for Personality and Social Psychology.
• Flores, M., & Butler, E. A. (2017, Spring). RC2: Daily sexual activity in newly cohabiting couples influences health behaviors and weight maintenance.. Society for Personality and Social Psychology.
• Flores, M., Ruiz, J. M., Goans, C., Butler, E. A., Hirai, M., & Smith, T. W. (2017, Spring). RC2: Ethnic differences in social networks and support: Measurement considerations, and implications for disparities research.. Annual Meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine.
• Fonseca, A., Flores, M., & Butler, E. A. (2017, Spring). RC2: Body satisfaction in individuals with low and high self esteem: The role of romantic partner. Society for Personality and Social Psychology.
• Hollis, M., Sawvelle, H., Ruiz, L., Flores, M., & Butler, E. A. (2017, Spring). RC2: Emotional awareness is related love, conflict and ambivalence in newly cohabiting couples.. Society for Personality and Social Psychology.
• Sawvelle, H., Ruiz, L., Hollis, M., Flores, M., & Butler, E. A. (2017, Spring). RC2: Coping and eating together in newly cohabiting couples.. Society for Personality and Social Psychology.
• Flores, M. A., Borders, J., & Butler, E. A. (2015, March). Weight maintenance in couples: Positive and negative partner influences on BMI and percent body fat. American Psychosomatic Society.
• Garcia, D, D. O., Butler, E. A., & Thomson, C, C. A. (2015, April). Gender differences in the associations between body mass index, weight loss attempts, and body weight perceptions among young hispanic adults. Society of Behavioral Medicine.
• Milek, A., Butler, E. A., & Bodenmann, G. (2015, March). Within- and between-person effects of couple’s time together on women’s intimacy. International Convention of Psychological Science.
• Reed, R. G., Butler, E. A., Sbarra, D. A., Breen, E. C., Irwin, M. R., & Weihs, K. L. (2015, March). Associations between pro-inflammatory cytokines and physical symptoms are moderated by emotional acceptance in women with breast cancer. American Psychosomatic Society.
• Skoyen, J. A., Rentscher, K. E., & Butler, E. A. (2015, April). Relationship quality and shared unhealthy behaviors predict body mass index. Society of Behavioral Medicine.
• Borders, J. I., Butler, E. A., & Randall, A. K. (2014, Spring). Emotional variability predicting conflict in romantic relationships.. Poster presented at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology Conference, Austin, TX..
• Butler, E. A., Guan, J., Reed, R. G., & Barnard, K. (2014, Spring). Computational temporal interpersonal emotion systems (CompTIES).. Poster presented at the Society for Affective Science Conference, Washington, D.C..
• Butler, E. A., Zerwas, F. K., & Randall, A. K. (2014, Spring). Partner influence, anxious attachment, and health habit changes in romantic couples.. Poster presented at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology Mini-Conference, Austin, TX..
• Champion, C. V., Butler, E. A., & Randall, A. K. (2014, Spring). Commitment moderating the relationship between BMI and sexual satisfaction.. Poster presented at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology Conference, Austin, TX..
• Guan, J., Reed, R. G., Morrison, C., Butler, E. A., & Barnard, K. (2014, Spring). Bayesian statistical modeling of temporal interpersonal emotion systems (TIES).. Poster presented at the Dynamical Systems and Computational Modeling in Social Psychology pre-conference, Austin, Texas..
• Reed, R. G., Butler, E. A., & Weihs, K. L. (2014, Spring). Examination of instability in perceived stress over time as predictive of physical well-being in women with breast cancer.. Poster presented at the American Psychosomatic Society Conference, San Francisco, CA..
• Rentscher, K. E., Skoyen, J. A., Randall, A. K., & Butler, E. A. (2014, Spring). Romantic partners’ eating to regulate emotion is associated with shared health-compromising behaviors.. Poster presented at the American Psychosomatic Society Conference, San Francisco, CA..
• Skoyen, J. A., Randall, A. K., Mehl, M. R., & Butler, E. A. (2014, Spring). Partner negativity when talking about health habits: Gender differences and associations with body mass.. Poster presented at the American Psychosomatic Society Conference, San Francisco, California..
• Davis, T. S., Ford, B. Q., Reise, M., McRae, K., Zarolia, P., Butler, E. A., & Mauss, I. B. (2013, January). Look on the bright side: Effects of positive reappraisal training on psychological health.. Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Emotion Pre-Conference.
• Randall, A. K., & Butler, E. A. (2013, October). Attachment and emotion a transmission within romantic relationships: Merging intrapersonal and interpersonal perspectives.. International Association for Relationship Research Mini-Conference.
• Reed, R. G., Barnard, K., & Butler, E. A. (2013, March). Volatile interpersonal emotion dynamics in mixed-weight couples.. American Psychosomatic Society Conference.
• Skoyen, J. A., Richardson, E. J., Randall, A. K., Corkery, S. A., Mehl, M. R., & Butler, E. A. (2013, March). Eating to regulate emotion, language use, and body composition.. Society of Behavioral Medicine Conference.

Others

• Butler, E. A. (2019, all). RA3: citation counts and h-index.
  More info

  According to Google Scholar, my work was cited 773 times in 2019, for a total citation count of 5,531. My h-index has increased 3 points since last year and is now 29.
• Butler, E. A. (2018, Fall). RA3: Citation counts and h-index.
  More info

  According to Google Scholar, my work was cited 686 times in 2018, for a total citation count of 4,553. My h-index has increased 4 points since last year and is now 26.
• Butler, E. A. (2017, Fall). RA3: Citation counts and h-index.
  More info

  Based on Google Scholar, my citation counts reached 3,774 and my h-index is 22.
• Butler, E. A. (2017, Fall). RA3: Invited talk. American Psychosomatic Society Meeting.
  More info

  I was invited to present my work at a special-topics meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society.
• Butler, E. A. (2017, Spring). RA3: Journal editorship: I was an Editor for Emotion, the leading journal in my field. I handled approximately 30 manuscripts a year.. Emotion.
• Reed, R. G., Butler, E. A., Sbarra, D. A., Breen, E. C., Irwin, M. R., & Weihs, K. L. (2015, March). Associations between pro-inflammatory cytokines and physical symptoms are moderated by emotional acceptance in women with breast cancer.
  More info

  Peer-reviewed abstract published as conference proceedings.
• Van, C. K., & Butler, E. (2012, Fall). Women s weight and emotions: The impact on relationships and eating behaviors. Frances McClelland Institute for Children, Youth, and Families ResearchLink.
  More info

  Volume 4, Issue 2