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Visualizing your partner's face can lower stress levels
Need to reduce your stress? Try thinking of the face of your better half.
28 January, 2019
Photo credit: Sept Commercial on Unsplash
- A new study shows just thinking about your partner's face can lower stress.
- Those who pictured their significant other during a stress test had lower blood pressure increases than those who didn't.
- The results add to the pile of research that shows how great being in a relationship is for your health.
<p>A new study from the University of Arizona shows that thinking about your significant other's face can reduce stress just as well as having them with you. This opens the doors to new coping strategies to help people deal with stress, even if they must endure it alone. <br></p>
How on Earth did they find that out?
<p>For the study, which was published in the journal <em><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/psyp.13324" target="_blank">Psychophysiology</a> </em>on January 4, 102 participants in committed romantic relationships underwent a stress test while either visualizing their partner, having them in the room with them, or thinking about their day. The subjects were randomly assigned to each group and had baseline blood pressure and heart rate measurements taken.</p> During the test, the subjects placed their feet in near-freezing water and kept them there for a few minutes. Their blood pressure levels and heart rates were measured both during and after this <a href="https://psychcentral.com/news/2019/01/24/visualizing-support-from-romantic-partner-can-help-relieve-stress/142271.html" target="_blank">task</a>. <p><br>The poor people told to think about their day had their blood pressure go up by around fifteen points. The subjects who were told to think about their partners, however, saw their <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/measure.htm" target="_blank">systolic blood pressure </a>go up by around ten points — the same increase those who had their partners physically present in the room with them experienced.<br> <br> Similar results were found for <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/measure.htm" target="_blank">diastolic blood pressure</a>. Pulse rates and other stress responses were unaffected by any of the coping mechanisms. While previous studies have shown that thinking of your partner or having them in the room can reduce stress responses, this study is the first to suggest that they are equally useful.</p>Did relationship quality have any effect on these outcomes? I’m asking for a friend.
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-media_id="yhRujowm" data-player_id="FvQKszTI" data-rm-shortcode-id="4576a3db4209b4d4ed1c9b7970961bdb"> <div id="botr_yhRujowm_FvQKszTI_div" class="jwplayer-media" data-jwplayer-video-src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/yhRujowm-FvQKszTI.js"> <img src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/thumbs/yhRujowm-1920.jpg" class="jwplayer-media-preview" /> </div> <script src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/yhRujowm-FvQKszTI.js"></script> </div> <p>Yes, but not in the way you might think. In the control group tests, those poor people who were told to think about their day, how much their blood pressure levels rose in reaction to the stress of the cold water was related to how highly they rated the quality of their relationship.</p><p>For the people with the highest quality relationships, their blood pressure went up by the same amount as those who had their better halves in the room with them or were thinking about them. People who were in committed relationships saw similar blood pressure changes no matter how great their relationships were. <strong data-redactor-tag="strong"><br> <br> </strong>This suggests that being in a high-quality relationship helps people to deal with stress even when their partners are not present or even being thought about. </p>What use could this research have?
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-media_id="7wAhGiJp" data-player_id="FvQKszTI" data-rm-shortcode-id="ce4b88f82544b48c64d727557fcc1fd0"> <div id="botr_7wAhGiJp_FvQKszTI_div" class="jwplayer-media" data-jwplayer-video-src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/7wAhGiJp-FvQKszTI.js"> <img src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/thumbs/7wAhGiJp-1920.jpg" class="jwplayer-media-preview" /> </div> <script src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/7wAhGiJp-FvQKszTI.js"></script> </div> <p>Lead author <a href="https://psychology.arizona.edu/users/kyle-bourassa" target="_blank">Kyle Bourassa</a> explained his thoughts on the study's most obvious <a href="https://uanews.arizona.edu/story/having-partner-present-or-mind-may-keep-blood-pressure-down" target="_blank">application</a>:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;"><em>"Life is full of stress, and one critical way we can manage this stress is through our relationships – either with our partner directly or by calling on a mental image of that person. There are many situations, including at work, with school exams or even during medical procedures, where we would benefit from limiting our degree of blood pressure reactivity, and these findings suggest that a relational approach to doing so can be quite powerful."</em><br></p><p> The study also supports previous research that shows people in committed romantic relationships have better <a href="https://www.nm.org/healthbeat/healthy-tips/5-benefits-of-healthy-relationships" target="_blank">health outcomes</a> such as longer life, lower baseline stress levels, faster healing, and healthier habits. <br> <br> Bourassa also commented on this and said that this study, "suggests that one way being in a romantic relationship might support people's health is through allowing people to better cope with stress and lower levels of cardiovascular reactivity to stress across the day."<br> <br> Of course, like many other <a href="https://slate.com/technology/2013/05/weird-psychology-social-science-researchers-rely-too-much-on-western-college-students.html" target="_blank">psychology experiments</a>, the test subjects used here were mostly college students. The authors acknowledge the need for further studies with people from different age groups. The study also exclusively focused on heterosexuals, leaving the question of whether similar benefits exist for those in other kinds of relationships unanswered. <br> <br> Being in a committed relationship has well-known health benefits. Now we know that some of these benefits can be tapped into by merely thinking about our partner. While just thinking about your partner might not be enough to dull the pain of every stressful event entirely, it can help you get through the experience and, after all, isn't that what a supportive better half is supposed to do?</p>
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Most People Have Mixed Feelings About Breaking Up Just Before They Do It
A new study shows that most people are surprisingly ambivalent about their decision to break up with their partner — even right before they do it.
11 September, 2017
SHUTTERSTOCK — designer491
The old question Should I stay or should I go now is apparently a more common conundrum than you might expect.
<p>A new <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318845364_Wanting_to_Stay_and_Wanting_to_Go_Unpacking_the_Content_and_Structure_of_Relationship_StayLeave_Decision_Processes" target="_blank">study</a> published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science suggests that most people are quite ambivalent when deciding whether to break up — even right before they do it.</p> <p>The study, led by <span>University of Utah sociologist Samantha Joel,</span> included two parts. First, researchers surveyed 447 people about their current and past relationships, asking questions like<span><em> “What are some reasons someone might give for wanting to stay with/leave a romantic partner?”</em> After analyzing the results, researchers <span>identified 27 distinct reasons for wanting to stay in a relationship and 23 for wanting to break up.</span></span></p> <p><span><span>In the second part of the study, researchers compiled those 50 reasons on a list and presented it to a group of new participants, all of whom were considering a breakup with their current partners. The group was asked to select from the list any reasons that factored into their decision-making process.</span></span></p> <p>Most participants selected reasons from both categories, indicating decision-making conflict, as researchers noted:</p> <blockquote>
<p><span>Many participants were simultaneously motivated to both stay in their relationships and leave, suggesting that ambivalence is a common experience for those who are thinking about ending their relationships.</span></p>
</blockquote> <p><span>The fact that breaking up with a long-term romantic partner is a tough decision isn't surprising, but what's interesting about the results is the exact reasons why people stay or leave. </span></p> <p><span>Regardless of marital status, these were the most cited reasons for wanting to break up: </span></p> <ul class="ee-ul"> </ul><li>emotional distance </li> <li>inequity (power imbalances) </li> <li>violations of expectations (cheating)</li> <li>issues with an aspect of their partner’s personality</li> <p>However, reasons for wanting to stay in a relationship differed depending on whether respondents were married. While non-married people reported wanting to stay their relationships because they still had fun with their partner or had cultivated a closeness with each other, married people cited more logistical reasons — they had already invested so much time, they shared a home, family responsibilities. </p> <p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODM0MDQzOC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNjQyNTAwMn0.mLmqDcwpUGPyOgw39xMTeJ5fmVziHQboT3BEHydP4RU/img.jpg?width=980" id="e2ac6" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="858f9189d89df492d06ba6bf5c03786e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <p>Another interesting find in the results is that ambivalence — both about staying and leaving — was highest among those with <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/science-choice/201511/what-is-attachment-anxiety" target="_blank">attachment anxiety</a>, which was measured with a questionaire that asked participants to rate their agreement with questions like “I worry that romantic partners won’t care about me as much as I care about them.” The researchers noted:</p> <blockquote>
<p>...the associations between stay<span class="ls48 ws2a8">/leave ambivalence and attach</span>ment anxiety may help to explain why anxiously attached individuals are particularly p<span class="ls170 ws2ab">rone to on-off relationships</span></p>
</blockquote> <p>Experiencing relationship ambivalence is more than simple indecision — it seems to be considerably unhealthy.</p> <div> </div><blockquote>
<p><span>...ambivalence predicts physiological arousal and negative emotions (van Harreveld et al., 2009), more thorough, careful processing of information (Maio, Bell, & Esses, 1996; Nordgren, van Harreveld, & van der Pligt, 2006), and greater susceptibility to persuasion (Armitage & Conner, 2000). Together, these literatures suggest that ambivalence over stay/leave decisions is likely to be unpleasant, difficult, and detrimental to the self.</span></p>
</blockquote> <p>Past research has tried to identify the things in relationships that predictably lead to breakups. This new study is unique because it analyzes the actual decision-making processes behind breakups as they occur.</p> <div> </div><blockquote>
<p><span>Future research should examine how people ultimately resolve these conflicting pressures, as well as the consequences that they may have for health and well-being.</span></p>
</blockquote> <div> </div><div class="video-full-card-placeholder" data-slug="gay-talese-on-marriage" style="border: 1px solid #ccc;">
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Study: Are Platonic Heterosexual Relationships Really That Platonic?
A recent study reflects that men view their female friends differently than women view their male friends – but by a pretty insignificant margin.
30 October, 2016
Actors Hugh Grant and Stephanie Stumph flirt during the Wetten dass...? show at the AWD Dome in Bremen, Germany. (Photo by Ronny Hartmann/Getty Images)
A recent study in the journal Evolutionary Psychological Science reveals that heterosexual men and women may view opposite-sex friends differently from one another. In particular, men in the study were more likely than women to report being attracted to their opposite-sex friends – but not by much.
<p>Researchers’ interest in the subject was grounded in opposite-sex friendships being, by and large, a natural anomaly. <a href="http://www.uwec.edu/Psyc/faculty/bleske-rechek.htm" target="_blank">Professor April Bleske-Rechek</a>, the leading psychologist behind the study, said in <a href="http://www.psypost.org/2016/10/men-women-differ-imagine-opposite-sex-friend-45586" target="_blank">an interview</a> with <em>PsyPost</em>:</p> <blockquote></blockquote><p>In graduate school, my advisor (David Buss) and I began studying friendship with an evolutionary lens, and hence we began to consider the ways in which our evolved mating strategies might impinge on our experiences with opposite-sex friends. </p> <p>We did that because, defined as a voluntary, non-reproductive alliance between non-genetically related members of the opposite sex, these relationships — at least among young adults — seem to be a bit of an evolutionary novelty.</p> <p>From an evolutionary biologist’s point of view, non-sexual relationships between members of the opposite sex might seem downright bizarre.</p> <p>The study’s methodology consisted in approaching opposite-sex pairs of adults on a college campus, asking them to participate in a study about dyads, and separating them to answer some questions on a clipboard. According to the article, very few pairs declined to participate. Once separated, the participants answered questions about their relationship status and the extent to which each subject was attracted to the other.</p> <p>The hypothesis that young men look at their female friends differently than young women view their male friends was confirmed by the results. Men reported higher mean and maximum levels of attraction to their female friends than vice-versa. However, the differences were small. Prior studies into similar topics had results showing men having much higher relative rates of attraction. The researchers wrote:</p> <blockquote></blockquote><p>In short, we failed to replicate the significant sex difference documented in previous studies (Bleske-Rechek and Buss <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40806-016-0056-6#CR4" target="_blank" title="View reference">2001</a>; Bleske-Rechek et al. <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40806-016-0056-6#CR5" target="_blank" title="View reference">2012</a>; Kaplan and Keys <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40806-016-0056-6#CR10" target="_blank" title="View reference">1997</a>). The sex difference we observed was small in magnitude, rather than moderate to strong, and not statistically significant. </p> <p>Having expected to find a greater difference, the researchers suggest that one explanation for the subtle difference may be that they approached the friends while they were with each other (despite the fact that they physically separated to answer the questions). They describe:</p> <blockquote>
<p>We speculated that our sampling method was an explanatory factor. That is, we had not asked people to tell us about a friend of theirs but instead approached friends in their “natural habitat.” Are the members of the opposite sex with whom young adults pass their time in an everyday context different from the members of the opposite sex that they visualize when researchers ask about their friends?</p>
</blockquote> <p>Other questions remain as well. Are first-person reports about such friendships reliable? To what extent are the results culturally specific? What, if anything, can be learned about romantic relationships? Was there an evolutionary advantage to non-romantic heterosexual, opposite-sex friendships?</p> <p>Nevertheless, one thing, according to Professor Bleske-Rechek, remains clear: there is a real difference. She describes in her interview:</p> <blockquote>
<p>The current set of studies, taken as an aggregate, supports my general hypothesis that young adult heterosexual men and women, on average, have somewhat different mental definitions (or characterizations) of “opposite-sex friend.” When men and women think of an opposite-sex friend, men are more likely than women to think of a friend to whom they are attracted.</p>
</blockquote> <p>A seemingly simple question about the nature of human friendships reveals great complexity and eludes straightforward answers. </p> <div class="video-full-card-placeholder" data-slug="bill-nye-on-the-evolutionary-purpose-of-infatuation" style="border: 1px solid #ccc;">
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What the Length of Your Fingers Say About Your Personality
Your ring-to-index finger ratio can tell a lot about what you’re good at and even what mental disorders you are prone to.
14 October, 2016
Hands pressed together.
The eyes may be the window to the soul, but the hands can tell you a lot about a person too. Whether they are calloused for instance, or cotton soft. The fingers in particular can give you further insights. A collaborative study conducted by Oxford and Northumbria researchers in the UK, found that differences in the lengths of certain fingers indicated whether a person tended to be more promiscuous or monogamous by nature. The secret lies with the ring finger in comparison to the index.
<p>After studying 585 North American and British men and women, they found that those who had longer ring than pointer fingers, in either sex, tended to be more <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150210132905.htm" target="_blank" title="Science Daily">promiscuous</a>. While those who had a longer pointer than ring fingers tended to be more monogamous. It’s important to note that the study suggests but doesn't prove a biological basis for relationship pattern preferences.</p> <p>A longer ring finger was associated with more testosterone exposure in the womb, the hormone responsible for the libido in both genders. Men and women have differing levels of each sex hormone. Levels vary greatly among both genders. Some men have high testosterone for instance, as do some women, some men low testosterone, and so on.</p> <p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODQwODQ4NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwOTg2MTkzMn0.WDK9EZjTO_2TwXcDvaWMmNCPq_TgzWvjzpeCWk5cbKs/img.jpg?width=980" id="eb257" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e5c8355c66ae4175064b21f3105d4529" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <p><em>Longer ring fingers were associated with a tendency toward more promiscuous relationships in one study. </em></p> <p>A McGill University study, including 155 men, found that those with shorter index fingers in comparison to the ring finger were more agreeable and treated women nicer, than those with longer index fingers and shorter ring fingers. The first case is called a small digit ratio.</p> <p>This agreeability wasn’t reserved for the women they were romantically involved with either, but occurred with female family members, coworkers, and friends, as well. These men, researchers assume, may be more willing to compromise, a trait necessary to healthy relationships. Debbie Moskowitz was the lead author in this study. A professor of psychology at the university, she said that men with a larger ring finger tended to have more solid relationships and were more likely to have children, due to their agreeable nature.</p> <p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODQwODQ4Ni9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNDE5NDY1Mn0.eizyxiLZUh1UVnRqh4XwS0QxlCNDfo5hEErkUKZncbI/img.jpg?width=980" id="a4eb4" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="307fa4ebbcfaa938b6f51d3dd9c358fb" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <p><em>Men with a longer ring than index fingers may be more likely to have children. </em></p> <p>In this latest study, neuroscientists at The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), found that they could predict whether a person was a good athlete or if they were more of the anxious type, by examining index to ring finger ratios. Both men and women with longer ring fingers are better at spatial tasks, researchers <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166432815302680" target="_blank" title="Science Direct">determined</a>. As such, they are better at physical jobs and athletics.</p> <p>There are drawbacks however to those with a longer ring finger. For instance, they are at higher risk of ADHD, Tourette’s syndrome, and autism. These conditions are more prevalent in men. There are also advantages for those with a longer pointer finger. Low testosterone exposure in utero has been linked with better verbal memory. It was also associated with a higher risk of anxiety and depression, issues typically more prevalent in women.</p> <p>NTNU doctoral student Carl Pintzka completed this latest study for his dissertation. He wanted to associate in utero testosterone exposure with a higher aptitude for physical tasks. He first recruited 42 female participants and measured the length of their index and ring fingers. Next, he gave half the group a drug which would drop their testosterone levels down. The other half received a placebo. Then he gave them various exercises to perform.</p> <p> <img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODQwODQ4Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNTQ3NTM3OX0.-WY4f7vTT5Lw7pcYkGceLDHlF9ke9lyY0M8WowF3Egc/img.jpg?width=980" id="43ae7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="51a987e721e3367a0c34d7cc874cca8e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <p><em>Women in this study were asked to maneuver around a virtual maze, to see if testosterone made them better at it. </em></p> <p>By dampening testosterone, Pintzka could evaluate whether or not the hormone affected the women’s spacial capabilities. The volunteers had to complete a virtual maze, which included mentally rotating an array of 3D objects. Pintzka said, "The women who scored best on the mental rotation tasks had high levels of testosterone both prenatally and in their adult lives, while those who scored worst had low levels in both."</p> <p>Further research must be conducted to discover more about this phenomenon and how it may be applied to human health. One thing is for sure: how much testosterone we encounter in the womb and later on in life has a substantial impact on who we are. Pintzka suggests that a larger study would allow for a deeper understanding and a stronger correlation to surface. Until that time, when you take the hand of your loved one, take a look at their ring-to-index finger ratio. It may lend insight into who they really are.</p> <p>To learn more about what your fingers say about you click here: </p> <p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f743033d6b2e1852730bf56c2876f11e"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uDZswIekBB8?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span></p>
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Binge-watching TV together is good for your relationship, studies suggest
Surprisingly, this study was not funded by HBO, Netflix, Hulu or the Illuminati.
16 September, 2016
Stranger Things / Netflix
Characters in TV shows, films and books can feel so real. We cry for them when times are bad, we laugh when they make jokes – then look over our shoulders to check no one saw us. Or, if you're watching with your partner, you'll grasp their arm, look at one another with slack jaws, and excitedly discuss as the credits roll.
<p>Burning through hours of bandwidth watching <em>Game of Thrones</em> or <em>Narcos</em> might seem like time that could be spent more productively, but when you're watching it beside the one you love, turns out science gives it the all clear. You're creating a "shared social reality", according to a <a href="http://spr.sagepub.com/content/early/2016/07/26/0265407516660388.full.pdf+html" target="_blank">new study from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland (pdf file).<br></a></p><p>The psychology researchers found that there are measurable benefits to consuming media like films and books with your partner, especially if the two of you don't have a mutual group of friends, are in a long-distance relationship, or don't have much family. The researchers studied 259 students who had been in committed relationships for 16.7 months on average, and they controlled for the time couples spent together to make sure it was in fact the media, and not general time spent together, that produced the enhanced feelings of closeness. The couples who either had shared friends, or had fewer common friends but shared media consumption, reported the highest relationship satisfaction for the duration of the study. <br></p>
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<p>In a different study, couples that share more friends <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-2958.1991.tb00529.x/abstract" target="_blank">reported greater satisfaction, commitment, intimacy, and optimism</a> about their relationship's future than couples who share fewer friends, so if two people somehow feel they are lacking common social connections the air in the room might get filled with awkward static. Fortunately, we humans are extremely resourceful. When deprived of our psychological needs, we'll find creative ways to meet them. We look at photos when we miss someone. We get pets for companionship. We read books, which psychologically embeds the reader into whatever community is described in the narrative, satisfying a deep human need for belonging to the point that a <a href="http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/releases/becoming-a-vampire-without-being-bitten-a-new-study-shows-that-reading-expands-our-self-concepts.html" target="_blank">2011 study</a> showed that after reading Harry Potter, participants imbued their identity with wizard traits. In extreme isolation, <a href="http://www.etonline.com/movies/2015/02/24130075/cast_away.jpg" target="_blank">some of us</a> take up with a soccer ball called Wilson.</p><p>What this University of Aberdeen study has found is that fictional characters act as social surrogates. "When people lack a shared circle of friends with their partners, sharing media like TV shows, books, and movies with partners may compensate for this deficit and restore closeness," the study reports. <br></p>
<p>
<img src="https://assets.rbl.ms/18408158/980x.png">
Figure 1. Predicted relationship quality scores for the shared friends by shared media interaction in Study 1. Scores on the Y-axis are predicted values for the composite of standardized measures of partner centrality, own and partner closeness, and own and partner commitment.
</p>
<p>The authors also reference research conducted in 2013 on the <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/ccp/81/6/949/" target="_blank">prevention of marital distress and dissolution</a>, which showed that when couples watched and discussed relationship-themed movies it was equally effective as skills-based counseling interventions in preventing relationship dissolution over three years.</p><p>To unlock a bonus level of relationship closeness with your partner, there's evidence to suggest you should browse the thriller, horror and action genres. That's right, you want to feel the fear – purely so you can misattribute it. </p><p>A research paper on the effects of adrenaline on arousal and attraction from <a href="https://www.mckendree.edu/academics/scholars/issue17/mckinney.htm" target="_blank">McKendree University</a> indicates that when someone's emotional arousal (this is arousal outside of the sexual context, think a literal increase of emotional state marked by things like a racing heart and sweaty palms) is increased, their system is flooded with adrenaline, which increases the likelihood and amount of attraction between two people. A creative <a href="http://psych-your-mind.blogspot.com/2011/05/is-it-love-or-just-rollercoaster-ride.html" target="_blank">study by Dutton and Aron</a> involving exchanging phone numbers after crossing a shaky bridge supports it, and it's also why some avant-garde relationship counsellors will suggest couples go sky-diving together as therapy. </p><p>So you can grow closer to your partner by sharing the experience of characters in tense dramas, comedies and love stories, but as neuroscientist <a href="http://bigthink.com/videos/the-amygdala-in-5-minutes" target="_self">Joseph Ledoux</a> says, "Things that are bad have more weight than things that are good." Watching a character on <em>Game of Thrones</em> get his eyes gouged until his head pops, for example, should do it. As will watching Barb get shunned by her best friend then dragged to the 'upside down' by a monster in <em>Stranger Things</em>. Oh Barb, romantically fortified couples all over the world thank you.</p>
<p><img src="https://assets.rbl.ms/18408160/980x.jpg"></p>
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