Happiness is . . . texting as much as your partner

IT is a thoroughly modern recipe for dating success, which shows how much smartphones have become part of our romantic lives.

Evidence shows that a couple who text together, stay together.

Partners whose texting habits are similar are happier in their relationships, according to a study of 205 people aged between 18 and 29 by researchers in the US. Couples who send a similar number of texts to each other during the day are more satisfied than those where one person bombards the other with messages.

These matching numbers of texts – even if used simply to say hello – act as ‘expressions of affection’ or a reminder that two people are thinking of each other, the authors from Pace University in New York suggest.

The study, published in the journal Computers in Human Behaviour, also suggested that couples who use texts to bring up difficult issues or express anger are also happier, as long as each spends a similar amount of time doing so.