While the honeymoon period may only last for the first few months of a relationship, love and romance can have long lasting positive effects, a new study reveals.
Psychologists of the German Universities of Jena and Kassel have found that being in a relationship can have a positive effect on personality development in young adults - and even reduce neuroticism.
Speaking about the study, published in the online edition of Journal of Personality, psychologists said: 'We were able to show that they become more stable in a love relationship, and that their personality stabilises.'
The never-ending Honeymoon period? A new study has found that being in a long-term relationship can stabilize your personality and have lomg-term positive effects
Researchers analysed 245 couples between the ages of 18 and 30 and looked at the correlation between neuroticism and relationship satisfaction.
Scientists also asked participants to imagine made-up scenarios and how they'd react. 'This part was crucial, because neurotic people process influences from the outside world differently,' explained one researcher.
Positive effects: Researchers found that the longer someone was in a relationship, the less negatively they looked on situations, therefore making them less neurotic
'For instance, they react more strongly to negative stimuli and have a tendency to interpret ambiguous situations negatively instead of positively or neutrally.'
Researchers found that the longer someone was in a relationship, the less negatively they looked on situations.
'The positive experiences and emotions gained by having a partner change the personality - not directly but indirectly - as at the same time the thought structures and the perception of presumably negative situations change,' added researchers.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2626220/Better-valium-Scientists-LOVE-lowers-anxiety-neuroticism.html#ixzz31cAdTpvU
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