Whenever you feel like the spark in your love life has begun to fade, doing certain activities together with your partner could really make a difference. In fact, science came up with one simple thing that couples in need can do almost effortlessly — just look at some cute animal photos together.
Forget about couple’s therapy, dates, and restaurants, cute animals could save your love life. Go ahead and start now. And do not miss the bonus section!
“The idea that something so simple and unrelated to marriage could affect how people feel about their relationship, made me skeptical,” said James K. McNulty, one of the scientists. But they decided to check the idea and gave the world an unforeseen, but sweet remedy.
144 married couples, under 40 years of age took place in this study. All of them had been married for less than 5 years. At the beginning, they filled out forms stating the level of their current marital satisfaction and were divided into 2 groups.
Then, every 3 days for 6 weeks, each spouse was shown a set of images that included their partner’s face. The first group viewed neutral pictures (like buttons), while others observed cute animals.
The participants did not know about the real purpose of this study. They thought that the researchers were going to test their response speed and concentration. The task was to hit a button each time they saw a particular image.
The results were unexpected. The study confirmed that those who observed their partner’s photos with bunnies and puppies showed a more positive reaction to their partners than they had at the beginning. Moreover, the level of their marital satisfaction got boosted. “I was actually a little surprised that it worked,” McNulty said.
The main thing to remember is that this method is not going to help if a couple is experiencing some serious problems. It will look like carrying water in a sieve. But if you want to rekindle your feelings, this is a nice way that’s worth trying.