Science says: a long-distance relationship is not as bad as it seems

Summer has officially begun, including long sultry summer evenings, rising temperatures, and a lot of tension in the air. In other words: it’s the ideal time of year to fall hopelessly in love again. Good news for all singles, because who knows who you might run into this summer. Maybe you’ll meet the love of your life on vacation, or he/she might just be celebrating vacation on a terrace in our little country.

Because let's be honest, a vacation romance is the most fun there is, right? There are no expectations, it never lasts long, and you’re constantly on that first pink cloud. After the summer, you say goodbye carefree and return to your own life. But what if you think you’ve really found 'the one' and want to continue that love after the summer? I can hear most people thinking pessimistically: that will never work with that distance.

But dear people: nothing could be further from the truth. That’s why I have a nice announcement for the optimistic romantics among us. Research claims the opposite and shows that long-distance relationships actually strengthen the bond between lovers. A research team from the City University of Hong Kong and Cornell University investigated this by asking various dating couples who lived far apart and close together how much contact they had daily via phone, video chat, SMS, and email. Additionally, the couples had to keep track of what they had told about themselves and to what extent they experienced intimacy.

The researchers discovered a stronger bond among long-distance couples. They suspect this is because these couples open up more and idealize each other's behavior. Therefore, the researchers conclude that a long-distance relationship often leads to more consistent and deeper communication than a normal relationship. Researcher Crystal Jiang says the following about this: ‘Our culture emphasizes the importance of being physically together and having a lot of direct contact in a relationship. A long-distance relationship does not fit this image. But people really don’t have to be so pessimistic about love at a distance, because the so-called latters make more effort to communicate about their feelings.’

So, don’t worry if you want to stick around with your vacation romance this summer. It could very well be more than that, and even science believes in the chance of success.

Source: AD