Looking at photos of one’s partner would increase affection for him and promote marital satisfaction.
In long relationships, romantic feelings usually wane over time, sometimes leading to divorce. This is the observation made by Sandra Langeslag, director of the emotion neurocognition laboratory at the University of Missouri-Saint-Louis (in the United States). With her team, the researcher tried to find out if there was a simple way to rekindle a couple’s flame. To do this, they carried out a study, the results of which were published in the journal Journal of Psychophysiology.
25 married people had to view photos of their partner
“We tested whether positively reappraising one’s spouse and/or upregulating positive emotions unrelated to one’s partner increases infatuation and attachment toward one’s spouse, marital satisfaction, and attention to one’s spouse. “, the scientists clarified. As part of the research, they recruited 25 people who were married. In detail, 24 participants had a partner of the opposite sex and one volunteer had a partner of the same sex. On average, adults had known their partner for about 12 years.
To obtain information about the couples, each person was asked how they would rate their current level of infatuation and attachment to their spouse, how long they have known their partner, how long they have been in a romantic relationship with him and how long they have been married. The volunteers also had to rate their marital satisfaction and the way they behaved to increase the intensity of their feelings.
Next, the adults viewed photos of their spouses as well as so-called “nice and neutral” images, which showed strangers smiling or performing an act of kindness, while their brain activity was recorded. As the snaps scrolled, participants used sliders to indicate how in love they felt with their spouse, how attached they felt to their partner, and how satisfied they felt in their marriage .
Watching photos of the spouse increased attachment and marital satisfaction
“Viewing photos of one’s spouse increased infatuation, attachment, and marital satisfaction compared to viewing pleasant or neutral photos. Thinking about positive aspects of one’s partner and increasing positive emotions unrelated to the spouse n “did not further increase infatuation, attachment and marital satisfaction”, can we read in the results. Thus, the simple act of looking at photos of one’s partner could increase affection and relationship satisfaction.
According to Sandra Langeslag, this tip would be more beneficial for people who have been in a relationship for a long time and those who are long distance and need a boost of affection when they are not together. “Unlike couples therapy, you don’t need your partner present to do this,” she added to HuffPost.
