When you speak the language of love, then you know that sometimes, it can be filled with a lot of depth, richness, purpose, intent, and beauty. It’s the kind of love that has inspired the works of many literary greats.
Shakespeare loved to write and talk about love and he probably understood the language on a level that transcends mere mortals.
However, these days, people also have the tendency to bastardize the language of love by resorting to cheap cute puns and pet names. And that is going to be the topic of this article right here.
You hear it every day at this point. “Hi there, sweetie!”, “I love you, babe!”, “Give me a kiss, muffin!” are just a few examples.
There are so many different monikers that couples in love conjure for one another and they often get a lot of hate and criticism for it. There are so many skeptics when it comes to the use of pet names in relationships.
But it turns out that there is sufficient cause to believe that the skeptics are wrong. Research has suggested that the use of pet names in a relationship can actually help strengthen the bond and the connection between two people who are in love.
And so, if you happen to be a skeptic in this regard, it might be best for you to read the rest of this article. Maybe by the end of it, you will be singing a different tune.
Based on a survey that was conducted by Superdrug Online Doctor, the use of pet names can actually help increase relationship satisfaction by as much as 16% for U.S. respondents and 9% for European respondents.
The study covered more than 1,026 adults. The survey has shown that the use of pet names in a relationship can yield positive results because it somehow fosters a sense of intimacy and togetherness between two people in love.
Thus, it helps boost the emotional connection and fondness in a relationship.
“Under the right circumstances, pet names aren’t just a cute way to get your partner’s attention – they can be a sign you’ve gotten comfortable enough with each other to develop a love language.”
These are the words straight from the team at Superdrug who actually spearheaded the survey. The team also looked into the most popular pet names out there among contemporary couples.
They say that names like “cutie”, “princess”, and “honey” were the most prominent among the bunch. And they have also said that the least popular nicknames were “papi”, “daddy”, and “sweet cheeks” because they tended to have more problematic connotations by nature.
The participants of the study had ages that ranged between 20 and 71. They all must have been in a romantic relationship for at least one month in order for them to be eligible for the study.
Out of the 1,026 people who participated, 49% of them were European and 51% of them were American.
Of course, this isn’t the first study to broach the idea of pet names being an indicator of higher relationship satisfaction. There was a study published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships back in 1993 that actually looked into the use of quirky idioms in marriages.
They found that those who used pet names were found to have higher levels of happiness and satisfaction in the relationship as opposed to those who didn’t.
The research has also shown that married couples tend to use idioms less and less over the course of a long-term relationship.
It was the couples who were married for less than 5 years who were found to be the most active when it comes to the use of pet names in the relationship. Also, the couples who had had children were also found to use pet names significantly less.