Couples creating art or playing board games release more 'love hormone'

Couples who play board games or take a painting class together produce more oxytocin or 'love hormone', which is associated with bonding and family cohesiveness, a study has found.

The study, published in the Journal of Marriage and Family, found that men wielding paintbrushes released twice as much or more oxytocin as the level of women painters and couples playing games. CoupleGoals

"We were expecting the opposite -- that couples playing the board games would interact more because they were communicating about the games and strategies, or because they were competing, and with more interaction, they would release more oxytocin," said Karen Melton, an assistant professor at the Baylor University in the US.

Researchers also expected that painting couples would be more attentive to the instructor and to the canvas than to their partners -- but instead, couples in the art class reported more partner-touching than those playing board games.

"Typically, an art class is not seen as an interactive date with your partner. But sometimes couples that were painting turned the activity into a bonding time by choosing to interact -- putting an arm around their partner or simply saying, 'Good job,'" Melton said.

The study is the first to examine how distinct types of leisure are associated with oxytocin release, researchers said.

"Our big finding was that all couples release oxytocin when playing together -- and that's good news for couples' relationships," Read Complete Article