When older couples share happy moments together, it can help their bodies feel less stressed. In a recent study, scientists measured this by looking at a hormone called cortisol in people’s bodies.

What Did Scientists Learn?

“We know that positive emotions like happiness, joy, love, and excitement are good for our health,” said Dr. Tomiko Yoneda, who led the study. “They can even help people live longer. But most studies look at emotions like they happen alone.”

Dr. Yoneda explained that in real life, our strongest positive emotions often happen when we’re with other people. The scientists wanted to see if sharing happy moments with a partner affects the body in important ways.

How Did They Study This?

The researchers looked at 642 people (321 couples) in Canada and Germany. Everyone was between 56 and 89 years old.

Here’s what the participants did:

• Answered short surveys about their feelings 5-7 times each day for one week

• The surveys asked how happy, relaxed, and interested they felt

• After each survey, they gave a saliva sample (spit) using a test strip

• Scientists collected 23,931 measurements total

What Did They Find?

When both partners were together and feeling positive emotions, their saliva showed lower cortisol levels. Cortisol is known as the “stress hormone.” Lower levels mean less stress in the body.

This was true even after considering things like age, medications, and the fact that cortisol is naturally higher in the morning.

“There was something uniquely powerful about sharing those positive emotions together,” Dr. Yoneda said. “Even more exciting, we found signs that these shared positive moments have lasting effects.”

When couples felt good together, their cortisol levels stayed lower later in the day. This means co-experiencing positive emotions might help the body stay calmer over time.

Does It Matter If You’re Happy in Your Relationship?

Surprisingly, no! Even if a couple wasn’t very happy with their relationship overall, sharing positive emotions still helped calm their bodies.

What’s Next?

In the future, Dr. Yoneda wants to study shared positive emotions between friends, coworkers, and family members—not just romantic partners.

“According to positivity resonance theory, those moments can happen between any two people, not just romantic partners,” she said. “That opens up a whole world of possibilities for future research.”