Dr. Tafoya’s research interests include the dark side of interpersonal relationships (infidelity, jealousy, aggression, conflict, etc.), conflict management and negotiation across contexts, family communication processes in different family structures (step-, half-, and full sibling relationships through the life course, divorced families, stepfamilies, nuclear families, in-law, parent-child, etc.), nonverbal communication (i.e., affection & aggression), physiology/biology and communication, communicative framework research (identifying the role communication plays in various areas: road rage, infidelity, emotional ambivalence, etc.); and theory (various evolutionary theories, biology theory, social learning theories, social exchange theory, systems theory). Her current research focuses on how experiences vary in different sibling relationships (step-, half-, full-).