{
  "id": 3947918,
  "title": "Couples who share awe-inspiring experiences report greater relationship flourishing",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/28/couples-who-share-awe-inspiring-experiences-report-greater",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-08-28T11:00:13.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "PsyPost",
    "slug": "psypost",
    "url": "https://www.psypost.org/couples-who-share-awe-inspiring-experiences-report-greater-relationship-flourishing/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Shared awe-filled moments with romantic partners are associated with enhanced relationship satisfaction and depth, according to a recent study published in The Journal of Positive Psychology. Awe, an emotion triggered by encountering something vast that challenges a person's existing understanding of the world, can arise from various experiences such as witnessing a breathtaking natural landscape or listening to a moving piece of music. Unlike typical happiness, awe tends to be a self-transcendent emotion that reduces a person's focus on themselves and encourages open-mindedness.\n\nThe study, conducted by researchers at Radboud University, involved two online studies with a total of 504 adults in romantic relationships. Participants reported their general tendency to experience awe in daily life, the awe they felt specifically with their partner, and their overall relationship satisfaction. The researchers found that shared awe positively predicted relationship satisfaction, passionate love, and self-other overlap, indicating a stronger sense of connection and relational growth.\n\nIn a follow-up study, the scientists measured additional aspects of relationship depth, such as relationship flourishing, willingness to sacrifice for the partner, relational quiet ego, and shared amusement. Shared awe was found to be a strong predictor of relationship satisfaction and flourishing, even when accounting for other factors. The association with relationship flourishing was particularly noteworthy, accounting for about half of the variance in this measure, indicating that shared awe is closely tied to a sense of shared meaning and relational growth.\n\nInterestingly, when shared awe was considered, a person's individual tendency to experience awe was negatively associated with relationship satisfaction. The researchers suggest that this finding warrants caution, as more research is needed to fully understand the relationship between individual awe tendencies and relationship outcomes. Overall, the study highlights the potential benefits of shared awe experiences in fostering deeper connections and growth within romantic relationships.",
  "summary": "A new study finds that couples who experience moments of awe together report higher relationship satisfaction and a deeper sense of connection. These shared experiences of wonder foster relationship flourishing better than individual feelings of awe.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}