| Abstract: | This study aimed to examine the role of family environment upon responses to interpersonal conflict in young adulthood, and to determine whether response patterns differed between men and women. Behavioral, affective, and cardiovascular responses of 17 young adults from families rated extreme (EXT) on scales of cohesion and flexibility were compared with those of 21 young adults from balanced (BAL) families. Participants engaged in 2 role‐play conflicts, 1 with a male confederate and 1 with a female confederate. Measures of positive and negative verbal and nonverbal behaviors, self‐reported anxiety and anger, and heart rate and blood pressure were obtained. Results showed EXT participants exhibited more negative verbal and less positive verbal behavior during both interactions than BAL participants. EXT men exhibited greater DBP, state anger, and negative nonverbal responses than BAL men, findings not observed for women. These findings indicate that exposure to a negative family environment influences how young adult men respond to interpersonal confrontation more than young adult women. |
