Gratitude can cement romantic relationships

WASHINGTON - Gratitude can lift up romantic relationships and help us achieve and maintain satisfaction with partners.

“Feelings of gratitude and generosity are helpful in solidifying our relationships with people we care about,” says Sara Algoe from the University of North Carolina in the US who led the study.

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, are each examples of gratuitous behaviour that could strengthen romantic relationships.

The study authors examined over 65 couples who were already in ongoing, satisfying and committed relationships. They tracked the day-to-day fluctuations in relationship satisfaction.

The little, everyday, ups and downs in relationship quality were reliably marked by one person’s feelings of gratitude.

The effects on the relationship were noticed even the day after the feeling of gratitude was expressed.

The study authors claim that this emotional response may be beneficial for relationships that are on the rocks or in a context where people already have solid and satisfied relationships - a little gratitude may go a long way toward maintaining the connection.

By temporarily changing the perspective on the relationship, everyday gratitude may work as a booster shot for ongoing romantic relationships.

Algoe says: “Gratitude triggers a cascade of responses within the person who feels it in that very moment, changing the way the person views the generous benefactor, as well as motivations toward the benefactor.”

This study is slated for publication in Personal Relationships.