The new taxonomy organizes how scientists study those two-person emotional processes. By mapping methods and designs, it helps researchers see which questions receive attention and which remain overlooked. This matters beyond academic bookkeeping: clearer methods help schools, workplaces, and health programs design interactions that support resilience and fair participation.
If you care about how feelings amplify or calm group dynamics, the article points toward productive next steps. It invites readers to consider context and richer, multivariable approaches that match the real complexity of relationships. Follow the link to explore how a unified framework could change who benefits from emotional science and how we cultivate better systems for human growth.
Traditionally, emotions have been viewed as intrapersonal experiences, but recent perspectives emphasize their interpersonal nature. Yet research on interpersonal emotional processes is scattered across subfields and lacks a unifying framework. We propose a taxonomy that structures the different methodological ways through which dyadic emotional processes can be and have been empirically studied. Reviewing recent work, we apply this taxonomy to identify well-studied versus neglected areas and clarify gaps between empirical work and theory. Our review highlights two key insights: to advance theory, empirical research should (i) consider context and (ii) move beyond simple bivariate approaches. Laying the methodological groundwork, the taxonomy provides a first step toward unifying the literature and fostering cumulative progress in understanding interpersonal emotional processes.
