On-line empathic accuracy in marital interaction.

Seventy-four married couples reviewed videotapes of their problem-solving discussions and described self and partner on-line thoughts and feelings. Scores were derived measuring empathic accuracy, assumed similarity, and shared cognitive focus. As expected, the results showed that more highly educated partners and those married for shorter time periods achieved superior empathic accuracy. In contrast, assumed similarity was significantly related to the positivity of relationship judgments, such as relationship satisfaction, and to the positivity of the verbal behavior. Several mediational models were tested, the results of which showed that shared cognitive focus mediated the link between relationship length and empathic accuracy.