Appreciation for the “little things” in relationships can boost feelings of happiness and romance, researchers have found.
Showing gratitude has the ability to boost feelings of happiness and romance which helps the relationship to flourish, reports dailymail.co.uk.
Experts from the University of North Carolina in the US studied how couples behave when responding to nice gestures.
“An emotional response of gratitude for everyday interpersonal gestures can be a powerful mechanism for relationship growth,” said experts from the research team.
“Events such as one partner planning a celebratory meal when the other partner gets a promotion, taking the children to the zoo so the other partner can have some quiet time, or stopping to pick up the other partner’s favourite coffee are each benefits to the recipient,” they added.
The study also revealed that people who show gratitude can expect greater feelings of satisfaction about the relationship and their partners also feel better.
“Men and women with grateful partners felt more connected to the partner and more satisfied with the romantic relationship,” said experts.
The research revealed that the emotion of gratitude ultimately helps people find, remind, and bind themselves to others who seem to care about their welfare.
“The little things may make a big difference within the daily lives of individuals in romantic relationships. Gratitude may help to turn ordinary moments into opportunities for relationship growth, even in the context of already close, communal relations,” they added.
Sixty-seven couples took part in the study. The couples were together for at least three months and the average age of participants was 25.
