Page 28 - STMT 2nd Edition

Building a relationship takes a lot of work, and

trying to maintain one over long distance is pretty

much setting it up to fail. At least, that’s what pop

culture tells us.

But over the past few years, researchers have collected some surprising

data. Not only do long distance relationships work, but they can actually

be healthier than close proximity relationships.

In 2015, Queen’s University researchers studied 1,142 relationships. All

couples were in their 20s, 30 percent of them were out of college, and 77

per cent were heterosexual.

The results showed that people in long distance

relationships indicated the same levels of intimacy,

communication, commitment, sexual satisfaction,

and overall satisfaction as those in geographically

close relationships.

“It seems like the big finding here is that because of the distance, [long

distance relationships] force greater communication and deeper

communication,” says Vinita Mehta, PhD, a clinical psychologist and writer

based in Washington, D.C.

“If you live in the same area, you can sort of slide by

with staying on the surface and perhaps not get a

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