Dogs and dating apps: The latest in relationship science

Across the globe, people’s social lives have been shaken up by Covid-19 — to put it lightly.

Forced to live closer together (or further apart) than ever before, life in lockdown casts a strange new light on the importance of our loved ones. As loneliness, cabin fever, and drastic changes in lifestyle tear into our everyday lives, our closest relationships continue to bear the brunt of the pandemic’s impact.

Fortunately, through decades of scientific studies, researchers are starting to forge a science-based path to a happy and healthy relationship.

We’ve discovered what dating app algorithms get wrong, and how taking on dogs’ social skills ultimately led to our evolutionary survival. (Really.)

Whether it be through ancient paleontology or modern psychology, science continues to provide the best relationship advice.

In this episode of The Abstract, we discuss what the latest scientific research reveals about cultivating the happiest, healthiest relationships.

Our first story is about a landmark study that finds there's something far more important than your personality when it comes to forming happy unions. Twenty years of relationship science reveals the strongest bonds hinge on the nature of the relationship itself.

Our second story is about how mastering relationships led to our success as a species. Driven by natural selection, humans evolved to be friendly, changing the course of history and remaining key to our long-term survival.

Read the original Inverse stories:

• Landmark study on 11,196 couples pinpoints what dating apps get so wrong
• One advantageous way humans are more like dogs than Neanderthals

Where to find us:

• Subscribe to The Abstract wherever you listen to podcasts: iTunes | Spotify | TuneIn | RadioPublic | Stitcher
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• Follow Inverse on Twitter
• We're hosted and produced by Tanya Bustos

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Right now, facts and science matter more than ever. That's part of the reason for The Abstract, this all-new podcast from the Inverse staff that focuses exclusively on science and innovation. Three new episodes are released a week, and each covers one theme via two related stories. Each features audio of original Inverse reporting, where the facts and context take center stage. It's hosted by the Tanya Bustos of WSJ Podcasts. Because we're Inverse, it's all true but slightly off-kilter. It's made for people who want to know the whole story. —Nick Lucchesi, executive editor, Inverse