Teasing your partner playfully can make lasting relationship

NEW YORK

Are you always in a mood to tease your better half? Then there is good news. A new study suggests that couples who poke fun at each other, indicating humour, are more likely to stay together.

The study showed that inside jokes are particularly important because they affirm ones relationship through laughter, the Daily Mail reported.

However, couples who share mean-spirited jokes with nasty jibes are unlikely to last, which indicates a problem in the relationship.

"Playfulness between romantic partners is a crucial component in bonding and establishing relational security," said Jeffrey Hall, Associate Professor from the University of Kansas in the US.

"Particularly shared laughter is an important indicator of romantic attraction between potential mates," Hall added.

The team examined more than 150,000 participants to determine how important humour is in a romantic relationship.

The results, published in the journal Personal Relationships, suggest that couples who create humour together—including inside jokes -- are more likely to last. 

But, this does not mean that people who are funny or can make a joke out of anything would be more lucky in love.

"If you share a sense of what's funny, it affirms you and affirms your relationship through laughter," Hall was quoted as saying by Daily Mail. 

However, couples should not go too far, Hall warned.

Importantly, having an aggressive sense of humour is a bad sign for the relationship in general, but it is worse if this style of humour is used in the relationship, the study noted. — IANS