Affectionate behavior is not all that it seems, according to relational communication expert Sean Horan, an assistant professor at DePaul University in the College of Communication.<\/p>\n \u201cGestures such as hand holding, kissing and cuddling could be indicators that your partner is mad at you<\/strong>,\u201d explained Horan.<\/p>\n In the study \u201cUnderstanding the Routine Expression of Deceptive Affection in Romantic Relationships,\u201d forthcoming in Communication Quarterly<\/em>, co-author Horan examined how and why deceptive affectionate behavior occurs.<\/p>\n Deceptive affection means that an individual in a romantic relationship chooses to express affection he or she does not actually feel<\/strong>, according to the findings.<\/p>\n Horan, along with co-author Melanie Booth-Butterfield, a professor at West Virginia University, discovered that non-married individuals expressed deceptive affection about three times a week to romantic partners.<\/p>\n \u201cCouples use deceptive affection because they feel negatively about their partner and want to save face, avoid embarrassing their partner or sidestep a situation that may land them in hot water<\/strong>,\u201d said Horan.<\/p>\n Examples of this kind of deception include lying about one\u2019s own feelings or feelings about a partner and expressing affection instead of negative feelings, he noted.<\/p>\n One participant confessed she didn\u2019t want to hug or cuddle her boyfriend because she was in a bad mood but did so anyway. Another told his girlfriend he loved her to get off the phone faster so he could watch a basketball game<\/strong>. And when one woman\u2019s boyfriend asked if she liked his new haircut, she lied and said she did, in order to spare his feelings.<\/p>\n According to the study\u2019s findings, couples use verbal and non-verbal affection in hopes that a sweet caress or profession of love will mask their true feelings.<\/p>\n However, don\u2019t let paranoia kick in and assume your love will wilt faster than Valentine\u2019s Day roses<\/strong>. Horan noted that this isn\u2019t necessarily negative behavior.<\/p>\n \u201cUsing affection to lie appears to be a regular activity in romantic relationships that most people don\u2019t seem to mind,\u201d he said. \u201cIn fact, deceptive affection might actually help maintain a relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n Horan and Booth-Butterfield\u2019s related study, \u201cIs It Worth Lying For? Physiological and Emotional Implications of Recalling Deceptive Affection,\u201d published in 2010 in Human Communication Research<\/em>, examined the risks of deceptive affection. The research indicated that those using deceptive affection are minimally bothered by their lies.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From the DePaul University press release via Newswise: Cuddling, kissing and holding hands are the kinds of behavior you might expect to see this time of year. So why do the days that follow Valentine\u2019s Day mark the largest spike on the calendar for breakups? Affectionate behavior is not all that it seems, according to… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,7],"tags":[13,287,12],"class_list":["post-10936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-emotions","category-relationships","tag-communication","tag-couples","tag-psychology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10936"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11199,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10936\/revisions\/11199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"dating\"](\"http:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/dating_couple.jpg\")
Cuddling, kissing and holding hands are the kinds of behavior you might expect to see this time of year. So why do the days that follow Valentine\u2019s Day mark the largest spike on the calendar for breakups?<\/strong><\/p>\n