New research reveals the time when relationships get better and more humorous - YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Sign in Welcome!Log into your account Forgot your password? Password recovery Recover your password Search Sign in Welcome! Log into your account Forgot your password? Get help Password recovery Recover your password A password will be e-mailed to you. YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Home Life New research reveals the time when relationships get better and more humorous By You Magazine - December 5, 2018 Like many, you may think that relationships are more exciting when you’re young and care free. But new research has suggested that couples actually tend to have it better when they’re older. Everyone knows that relationships aren’t always a fairy tale with an endless honeymoon period. They can be tough and challenging at times, and while some may assume that bickering and regular arguments tend to occur when you’ve been with your partner for a long time, a new study has proved otherwise. Getty Images According to research from the University of California, Berkeley, our relationships actually start to become less combative and more humorous and accepting as we get older. The researchers carried out the study by videotaping conversations between 87 middle-aged and elderly married couples, all of whom are from San Francisco and had been married between fifteen to thirty-five years. After tracking their ’emotional interactions’ over 13 years, the researchers found that ‘as couples aged, they showed more humour and tenderness towards each other.’ Getty Images They also noticed that criticism and defensiveness dropped over the years. The study’s senior author, Robert Levenson said: ‘Our findings shed light on one of the great paradoxes of late life. Despite experiencing the loss of friends and family, older people in stable marriages are relatively happy and experience low rates of depression and anxiety. Marriage has been good for their mental health’. This means more friendship and love, and less chance of affairs. Co-author Alice Verstaen, added: ‘Underscore the importance of intimate relationships as people age, and the potential health benefits associated with marriage.’ The researchers, who had been tracking the participants since the late 1980s, explained that their listening and speaking behaviours were ‘coded and rated according to their facial expressions, body language, verbal content and tone of voice,’ while their emotions were categorised into ‘anger, contempt, disgust, domineering behaviour, defensiveness, fear, tension, sadness, whining, interest, affection, humour, enthusiasm and validation,’ for the study. RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR Everything we know about The Crown season 5 Aldi s exercise equipment is on sale with up to 50% off The best Halloween events for 2022 across the UK Popular in Life The You magazine team reveal their New Year s resolutions December 31, 2021 Susannah Taylor The TLC tools your body will love January 23, 2022 How to stop living in fear February 6, 2022 Susannah Taylor My pick of the fittest leggings February 27, 2022 Women’ s Prize for Fiction 2022 winner announced June 17, 2022 These BBC dramas are returning for a second series June 30, 2022 Susannah Taylor gives the lowdown on nature s little helper – CBD April 17, 2022 The baby names that are banned across the world April 27, 2022 The Queen has released her own emojis May 26, 2022 Sally Brompton horoscopes 27th June-3rd July 2022 June 26, 2022 Popular CategoriesFood2704Life2496Fashion2240Beauty1738Celebrity1261Interiors684 Sign up for YOUMail Thanks for subscribing Please check your email to confirm (If you don't see the email, check the spam box) Fashion Beauty Celebrity Life Food Privacy & Cookies T&C Copyright 2022 - YOU Magazine. All Rights Reserved