An ISU psychology professor has begun a study to test his theories on the physiological and behavioral effects of marital conflict.

David Vogel, assistant professor of psychology, has conducted research on 70 couples for the study.

Vogel has been studying marital relationships for a while, he said. Vogel said there is a pattern of withdrawal and demand in marital relationships.

“One partner takes a demanding role,” while the other withdraws, Vogel said.

Vogel said when this pattern happens, it can be negative for relationships. The pattern may result in divorce, violence or even physical abuse, he said.

Vogel also explained another marital conflict theory — men and women have biological ways of responding to relationship conflict.

“Women [are] more likely to demand — men are more likely to withdraw,” Vogel said.

“Men may react more physiologically than women, and to lessen that arousal, they withdraw.”

In order to test the theories, Vogel conducted research measuring physiological and behavioral effects on couples.

In the study, couples were interviewed and both the man and the woman each were asked identify one problem in their relationship.

The conversations were videotaped and the physiological responses of the couples were recorded, Vogel said. The couples began by talking about their day in order to get a reading of their normal baseline physiology.

Then Vogel said one of the topics, either the man’s or the woman’s, was used to start a conversation about problems in the relationship. The conversation was then flipped to address the other member of the couple’s concern.

By putting sensors on the hands of the subjects, a computer monitors heart rates and skin conductance each second. The videotapes are being reviewed and the results transformed into statistics.

Vogel was mentored by the Institute for Social and Behavioral Research, and Carolyn Cutrona, psychology professor and chairwoman of the Institute for Social and Behavioral Research.

“[The Institute for Social and Behavioral Research] has a summer program where junior faculty work with an experienced grant-getter,” Cutrona said.

Cutrona said the mentors read the drafts of proposals and help with the “little details” and grant writing skills.

“I think it’s an exciting study [using] behavior and physiology in a creative way,” Cutrona said.

Cutrona also said the study could help find why some couples’ marriages go wrong.

Vogel said without the workshop, his grant proposal wouldn’t have been funded.

The grant money allotted for the study totaled $73,000, he said.