ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Personality and Social Psychology
Are We Doing Good? Perceived Emotion Regulation Success and Relationship Quality in Couples
Provisionally accepted
- 1Helsingin yliopisto, Helsinki, Finland
- 2Universitat Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
- 3Technische Universitat Dresden, Dresden, Germany
- 4Evangelische Hochschule Dresden, Dresden, Germany
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Abstract Emotion regulation (ER) is a key determinant of relationship quality and stability, yet little is known about how individuals' perceptions of their own (as a regulator) and their partner's emotion regulation success (as a target), as well as the similarity of these perceptions, relate to relationship quality across gender and age. This study examined these associations in 37 younger couples (Mage = 24.33) and 41 older couples (Mage = 70.27) using dyadic reports of perceived ER success and relationship quality. Bayesian structural equation modeling revealed that higher perceived ER success was linked to greater relationship quality, particularly among women, with stronger effects observed in older couples. For men, greater similarity between their own and their partner's perceived ER success was uniquely associated with higher relationship quality, highlighting the role of similarity in these perceptions within couples. These findings advance the understanding of gender-and age-specific emotional processes in romantic relationships and suggest that fostering women's emotional self-awareness—especially in later life—and enhancing mutual emotional understanding among men can strengthen relationship quality.
Keywords: couples, emotion regulation success, age differences, relationship quality, Gender difference, Interpersonal emotion regulation
Received: 11 Aug 2025; Accepted: 26 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Kunzmann, Kanske and K. Rohr. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yan Li
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