If you and your main squeeze are getting tired of doing the same things over and over again, try branching out and going on a ‘couple date’ with some friends of yours who are coupled up!

New research indicated that your friendships could have a lot to do with the health of your own relationship. Richard Slatcher, a researcher at Wayne State University, shares a lot of friends with his wife of 15 years, so he decided to look into how that actually affects couples.  

For the study, 60 couples who had been dating two years or more were split into two groups and paired up to have conversations. Half the couples were instructed to make simple small talk, while the other half of the group was given specific, emotionally-laden topics to discuss. Three months later, the couples who had kept in touch were the ones who had talked about real topics, rather than small talk – 1/3 of the emotionally-driven conversation couples had become friends.

That 30-ish percent of couples who made new friends reported feeling more “excited, enthusiastic, happy, and closer to their partner” when compared with all the other couples involved in the study.

The idea roots back to the fact that in a new relationship, people feel the need to get “dressed up” – physically and emotionally, and there’s a certain performance that couples put on when in front of new people that is reminiscent of the initial performance they put on to lure in their partner!

So, if you’ve already got a steady date, find some friends and go out! If you don’t yet have a steady date, check out all that Planet Love Match has to offer you!