Sharing happy moments may boost health of older couples, study finds

Sharing positive emotions such as joy and excitement may help boost the health of older couples, according to a study.

Researchers found those who experienced happy moments together had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

For the study, academics in the US analysed data from three pieces of research that included 321 couples in Canada and Germany aged between 56 and 89.

In each study, the couples answered surveys about positive emotions and gave a saliva sample.

Lead author Tomiko Yoneda, of the University of California Davis, said: “We know from lots of research that positive emotions like happiness, joy, love and excitement are good for our health – they’ve even been linked to living longer. But most of this research looks at people’s emotions as if they happen in isolation.

“In real life, though, our most powerful positive emotions often happen when we’re connecting with someone else.”

The analysis found both partners reported higher positive emotions than usual when they were together on around 38% of occasions.

Experiencing positive emotions together also led to lower cortisol levels compared to experiencing them as an individual, researchers said.

This was evident even after accounting for factors that can influence cortisol levels, such as medication and the time of day.

Ms Yoneda added: “There was something uniquely powerful about sharing those positive emotions together. Even more exciting, we found signs that these shared positive moments have lasting effects.

“When couples felt good together, their cortisol levels stayed lower later in the day. This suggests that co-experiencing positive emotions might actually help the body stay calmer over time.”

The study also suggests the findings did not differ across age, sex, or relationship satisfaction.

Ms Yoneda said the research, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, “builds on positivity resonance theory”, which suggests that when people share positive emotions, it can boost emotional and physiological wellbeing.

She added: “According to the theory, those moments can happen between any two people, not just romantic partners.

“That opens up a whole world of possibilities for future research.”