Keeping strict emotional score with a romantic partner is connected to depressive moods
People who view love and emotional support as limited resources are more likely to experience depressive moods in their romantic relationships. A new empirical study shows that treating intimate empathy like a prize with finite winners leads partners to withhold emotional affection and keep strict emotional score. The findings, published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, suggest that a competitive mindset regarding interpersonal exchanges reliably predicts daily emotional distress. A zero-sum framework dictates that a gain for one side perfectly corresponds with a loss for the opposing side. In economics or board games, these limits are written into the absolute rules of the engagement. Applying this rigidly economic perspective to the chemistry of human relationships creates unique and persistent friction. Everyday life offers many overt examples of a competitive outlook. In finance or sports, a victory for one group frequently dictates a direct loss for another. Individuals who hold these beliefs view the world through a lens of extreme scarcity. They assume that resources are completely finite and that any benefit given to someone else …
