Scientists reveal the surprisingly simple task that could reignite the spark in your relationship

When you’ve been with someone for many years, it’s all too easy to let life get in the way and the spark fizzles out.

But, psychologists at the University of Missouri–St. Louis in the US have discovered a surprisingly easy way to reignite the passion, and all you need is a photo.

A study has found that looking at pictures of your partner for just a few seconds can boost feelings of infatuation, attachment and marital satisfaction.

‘Looking at spouse pictures is an easy strategy that could be used to stabilize marriages in which the main problem is the decline of love feelings over time,’ the authors wrote.

There’s nothing quite like the butterflies you feel at the start of a new relationship, but keeping them alive over the years isn’t always easy.

A sad, oft-quoted, statistic is that 42 percent of marriages in the UK end in divorce, and this year divorce rates are predicted to hit a 50-year high.

Married couples fall out of love for a whole host of reasons, the most common reason being ‘unreasonable behaviour’ in 2021.

However, the researchers wanted to see if there was an easy way to help couples in long-term or long-distance relationships rekindle the spark.

This could be through looking at photos of their spouse, reading positive things about them or both.

For the study, published in the Journal of Psychophysiology, they recruited 25 married people who had known their partners for an average of 11.9 years.

The participants first self-reported information about their marriage duration as well as level of infatuation with and attachment to their spouse.

Next, they were presented with a set of 25 photos, where each appeared on a computer screen for one second.

Some of these were non-intimate images of their spouse – either alone, with them or with others – while others were just ‘pleasant’ or ‘neutral’ images which did not feature their spouse.

Before some of these images were displayed, a statement appeared on the screen to help regulate the participant’s emotions.

For example, before seeing a picture of their spouse, they may read ‘Think of one good personality trait of your spouse’ or ‘Think of something sweet your spouse did’.

Or before seeing a generic pleasant image, they may read ‘This man is fulfilling his dream of hang gliding’ or ‘This man is celebrating his 100th birthday’.

The neutral pictures were never preceded by an emotional regulation prompt.

During the task, the participants had to use a slider to indicate their level of infatuation with and attachment to their spouse, as well as marital satisfaction.

They also had their late positive potential (LPP) – a voltage of electrical brain activity which indicates emotional arousal – recorded using electroencephalography.

Using this data, the researchers were able to assess what kind of imagery increases one’s love for their partner, and if the preceding positive statements have an effect.

When not preceded by an emotional regulation statement, participants self-reported the largest increases in infatuation, attachment and marital attachment while looking at images of their spouse, compared to the other image types.

LPP was also amplified the most by the spouse pictures, but only to an intermediate level with the pleasant pictures and minimally with the neutral pictures.

However, while the statements increased the LPP with the pleasant pictures, they did not have an effect on this voltage when they preceded the spouse images.

They also did not have an effect on the self-reported indicators for either the spouse or pleasant images.

It was therefore concluded that just having a picture of your partner on your desk or in your wallet increases your love for them, at least in the short term.

The authors wrote: ‘This study indicates that looking at spouse pictures increases love and marital satisfaction, which is not due to increased positive emotions unrelated to the spouse.’