How a Few Inches in Bed Might Make or Break Your Relationship

Sleep positions have long been examined to interpret who a person is and how they feel. However, these efforts have typically involved the sleep patterns of just one person and what the body language displayed represents about them.

Now new research, which was conducted by the University of Hertfordshire in England, is taking that same approach and applying it to couples, how they are positioned during sleep and whether they sleep apart or touching. Their results were somewhat staggering.

Ninety-four percent of the participating couples who indicated being in regular physical contact with their partner during sleep said they were happy in the relationship. Among those couples who do not, that number drops by 26 percent.

During the annual Edinburgh International Science Festival, researchers sought out 1,000 random people to describe both their preferred and typical sleeping positions in relation to their partner.

“Ninety-four percent of couples in regular

contact during sleep were happy.”

This is one of the first studies to examine sleep positions in relation to couples and the quality of their partnership. Participants were each asked to rate that quality, as well as identify their own personality type, at the end of the test.

How far apart partners slept also was found to have some potential significance, as couples sleeping more than 30 inches apart reported being happy 66 percent of the time. For those separated by less than inch, that result jumps to 86 percent.

At 42 percent, couples sleeping back to back was the most common position, while nearly one-third slept facing the same direction as their partner.

At only 4 percent, couples facing one another during sleep was the least common position.

“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 by simply asking them about their favorite sleeping position,” said Professor Richard Wiseman in a press release.

From hngn.com.