DISPLAY RULE DEVELOPMENT IN ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS - EMOTION MANAGEMENT AND PERCEIVED APPROPRIATENESS OF EMOTIONS ACROSS RELATIONSHIP STAGES

A laboratory study of early dating and married/cohabiting couples show ed that perceived appropriateness of emotion expression was lowest for early dater's negative emotions. Partners in more developed relations hips managed positive emotions less than negative emotions and less th an early daters managed either negative or positive emotions. Biologic al sex moderated the effect of valence and relationship level on discr epancy scores, the greatest differences between stages being for males ' positive emotions and females' negative emotions. A second study usi ng partners across all stages of relationship development found eviden ce of a curvilinear pattern for relationship length on discrepancy sco res. Move management of negative emotions was reported by partners in early and later stages of relationship development. Perceived appropri ateness of emotion expression was found to increase with relationship development. Females' expressions of emotion were considered least app ropriate in early-stage relationships. Together the results provide ev idence of display rule evolution as relationships develop.