Want to Connect With Your Partner? Grab a Paintbrush
Why painting together can be a bonding experience
Do you want to bond with your partner? You may want to grab a paintbrush. Although we generally think of painting as a solitary artistic experience, a study in the Journal of Marriage and Family found that when couples paint together, they can become more affectionate with each other.
According to researchers, this is because when couples paint together, they release oxytocin, the so-called hugging hormone, as they take each stroke of the brush. During the study, 20 couples were assigned to a date night, with some participating in a couple’s art class at a community art studio and the others playing games — cards, checkers, chess, puzzles, dominoes, Monopoly, or word games — in a home-like environment.
The study found that participants who released the most oxytocin were the men in the art class. Additionally, the couples who participated in the art class were more likely to touch each other during their date than those playing board games — a result that researchers admit surprised them.
“We were expecting the opposite — that couples playing the board games would interact more because they were communicating about the games and strategies, or because they were competing, and with more…
