People who live together tend to merge their emotions more than they realize, even if they don't have an active physical relationship. They share their feelings through body language, subtextual cues, tone of voice, micro-expressions, facial expressions, gestures, eye contact, smiles, touches, etc. This can be great when people are happy but it may also cause problems.
One person might feel resentful for having to pick up after the other all the time, while the other feels guilty about being a burden. This is known as the "cost of caring" effect. When you live together, your partner becomes part of your everyday life, like family members. You notice them more often, see them daily, hear them speak, breathe their air, eat their food, sleep in their bed, wash with their stuff. It makes sense that these experiences would impact how you perceive each other emotionally.
Living together also means sharing secrets, insecurities, fears, hopes, goals, dreams, failures, successes, memories, fantasies, thoughts, worries. everything. Sharing so much with another person can blur the lines between what's private and public and affect intimacy levels negatively or positively depending on circumstances. One study found that married couples reported less emotional closeness over time due to increased familiarity; another study showed that cohabiting partners had higher satisfaction levels than those who were dating long-term because they felt more safe, comfortable, secure, supported. There are many ways in which proximity distorts emotional boundaries: proximal effects include oversharing information, becoming too dependent/independent from each other, developing codependency/enmeshment issues, lacking autonomy, feeling intrusive/invaded by others' feelings, having difficulty setting clear boundaries, not respecting privacy, getting used to each other's habits/quirks, etc. If one partner is more reserved than the other, this may cause tension if the latter tries to force him/her into opening up too soon or too deeply, especially about personal matters such as sexuality. It's important for people to keep some things private even when living together, like hobbies, interests, desires, aspirations, beliefs, preferences, values, finances, relationships with friends/family members. This helps them maintain a sense of identity outside of their relationship, feel secure within it, avoid conflict, set healthy limits, prevent jealousy/envy/resentment/anger. Living together means being constantly around each other, which requires mutual consideration, empathy, compromise, communication, trustworthiness. otherwise resentments will build up and affect intimacy negatively. Constant proximity also increases chances of infidelity since one partner can become too close to someone else physically/emotionally while still sharing a home with their spouse/partner; this often leads to betrayals that destroy relationships irrevocably. Conclusion: living together can be great but requires effort to maintain privacy/intimacy levels, so couples should prioritize open communication about how much they want/need privacy and find ways to get it without alienating each other or causing conflict.
How does constant proximity distort the boundaries between private and public emotional life?
The boundaries between private and public emotional life are prone to be distorted when individuals spend an excessive amount of time with each other, which can result in them feeling more comfortable sharing their innermost thoughts and feelings without restraint. This can lead to a blurring of boundaries and a loss of privacy, as people may begin to feel that they can share anything with one another.