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Dinner at your favorite restaurant can be pleasant.
But relationship research distinguishes between activities that are simply pleasant and activities that are both enjoyable and exciting.
Classic experiments assigned couples to spend time doing either novel/exciting activities or pleasant but familiar ones.
Couples assigned to exciting activities subsequently reported greater relationship quality.
A recent review concludes that evidence generally supports shared novel experiences as a way of promoting relationship quality.
That doesn't mean couples need constant adventures.
But occasionally replacing “our usual date” with “we've never tried this before” may provide something routine comfort doesn't.
© Behavioral Sciences (2026)