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About the relationship between spouses will tell the posture during sleep
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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The simplest things, such as sleeping position, can reveal a lot about a couple's relationship. A new research project in Edinburgh has shown that the position in which a person usually falls asleep can reveal a lot about them and their relationships with their loved ones.
During the study, more than a thousand people were interviewed, who told about their usual position at night during sleep, and also assessed themselves and their family relationships. As a result, the most common position among spouses was back to back (slightly more than 40%), then the position of spouses in one direction (slightly more than 30%) and only 4% of spouses preferred to fall asleep face to face. In addition, scientists found that 12% of spouses fall asleep close to each other, and 2% sleep at night at a great distance from their spouse.
As Dr. Wiseman, the author of the project, noted, touching is of great importance in family relationships, since according to the survey results, more than 90% of spouses who slept close and touched each other during sleep were more satisfied with their family life compared to couples who fell asleep at a distance from each other. The experts also concluded that the longer spouses sleep at a distance, the worse the relationship between them. More than 80% of couples who slept close to each other were satisfied with their family life.
In addition, the survey showed that extroverts (active, open people prone to impulsive behavior) prefer to fall asleep close to their significant other, while creative individuals like to sleep on their side (left or right).
But Dr. Wiseman also noted that the study was the first to examine sleeping positions between spouses. The findings offer a new way to assess relationships by looking closely at how people fall asleep.
However, tense relationships between spouses not only distance them from each other during sleep, but also suppress the immune system. Internal experiences due to family scandals and problems increase the "stress" hormone in the body - cortisol, which, in turn, negatively affects the general health. From a psychological point of view, problems in the family contribute to the development of such an emotional background that leads to the development of anxiety. In this case, a person always interprets ambiguous events in a negative light, he becomes insecure, needs confirmation of love.
A group of researchers at one of the universities in Ohio studied the impact of anxiety on the relationships of married couples who had been living together for about 12 years. As a result of the study, scientists came to the conclusion that people with an increased sense of anxiety had 11% higher cortisol levels in their bodies. In addition, such people had much weaker health compared to other participants in the study. Scientists also found that in the body of people with an increased sense of anxiety, the immune system produces 22% fewer cells that are needed to suppress infection.
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