WASHINGTON — Couples who sleep closer together are happier with their relationships, according to a new survey.
University of Hertfordshire psychology professor Richard Wiseman asked 1,000 people about their sleeping positions, personalities and relationship quality at the Edinburgh Science Festival.
The results showed that 94 percent of couples who spent the night in contact with one another were happy with their relationship, compared to 68 percent of those who didn’t touch.
Also, the study found 86 percent of couples who slept less than an inch away from each other claimed to be happy with their relationship compared to 66 percent of the respondents who said they slept more than 30 inches apart.
The further apart couples were when they slept, the less happy.
“This is the first survey to examine couples’ sleeping positions, and the results allow people to gain an insight into someone’s personality and relationship,” Wiseman said in a news release.
Wiseman also says extroverts like sleeping closer to their partners and creative people had a tendency to sleep to the left.
Of the 1,000 surveyed:
- 42 percent slept back-to-back
- 31 percent faced the same direction
- 4 percent faced each other
- 12 percent slept less than an inch apart
- 2 percent slept more than 30 inches apart
h/t: BBC
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WTOP’s Randi Martin contributed to this report.
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