What Should We Watch Today? The Role of Shared TV Watching in Couples' Daily Shared Reality

Shared reality, the experience of a perceived commonality of inner states, is hypothesized to play a central role in romantic relationships. Shared reality can be established within intimate relationships through engagement in shared practices. One common practice among romantic couples is watching TV together; however, how this activity relates to partners' shared reality has not been documented. The current study examined the effects of shared TV watching on daily shared reality construction among intimate partners, using dyadic daily diaries ( N days = 21, N couples = 84). We found that daily shared TV watching was associated with a greater experience of shared reality. This association was stronger when couples communicated with each other after (but not during) watching. In contrast, shared reality was not associated with the extent to which the watching experience was reported as emotionally intensive.