The current project focuses on the examination of a fundamental deficit in interpersonal perception, namely a lack of empathic accuracy in partners in distressed couples. Empathic accuracy is defined as “the understanding of another person’s episodic thoughts/feelings as they spontaneously occur during interactions”. This project examines (1) the role of motivation in distressed couples’ empathic inaccuracy, and (2) self-threat as primary motivator of distressed couples’ empathic inaccuracy.