Romantic relationships start out as enjoyable and exciting, but often times become routine and boring. Routine and boring can nix any relationship especially if it is new.
Wayne State University Study
A study performed at Wayne State University study showed that dating couples that spend time with other couples are more likely to have happy and satisfying romantic relationships. Richard B. Slatcher, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology in WSU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and a resident of Birmingham, Mich., specializes in social and health psychology. His recent research suggests that spending quality time with other couples may be an important way to improve long-term dating relationships that can lead to marriage.
Slatcher named his study, "When Harry and Sally met Dick and Jane: Experimentally creating closeness between couples," which recently appeared in Personal Relationships. The study looked at sixty couples who were dating controlled laboratory setting. “The object was to better understand how friendships between couples are formed, and to learn how these friendships affected each couple's romantic relationship.”
“Each couple was paired with another couple and given a set of questions to discuss as a group. Half of the groups were given high-disclosure questions intended to spark intense discussion, while the other half were given small-talk questions that focused on everyday, unemotional activities.”
The Study Results
Slatcher and his colleagues discovered that the couples who were put in the group that were given the small-talk questions were more less likely to develop friendships with the other couple. In fact, none of the couples they were paired with contacted each other after the study. The couples stated that after the study, they felt closer to their partner and their relationship had improved. Perhaps because each individual in their own way learned to appreciate their partner more after the experience.
The couples that were given high-disclosure questions reported greater increases in positive feelings after the intense interaction. In addition, one-third of the couples in the high-disclosure group contacted the other couple they met in the study to get together.
"This study suggests that if your romantic relationship has a case of the doldrums, having fun with another couple may help make your own relationship more satisfying," said Slatcher.