Research by PBS Graduate student Paige Harris & Prof. Nancy Collin’s on how physical activity and sports may impact romantic relationships and friendships was recently featured in the Current.

For her dissertation research, Paige Harris asks an important question:  “Given that physical activity promotes individual health and well-being, can it also help people develop happier and healthier close relationships?” Physical activity restores emotional, cognitive and physiological resources that may enable individuals to engage in pro-relationship behaviors, thereby improving relationship and social outcomes. Her dissertation work, which  received a National Institute of Social Sciences dissertation award for 2023, seeks to further develop this theoretical framework.   Paige conducts her work in Professor Nancy Collins' Close Relationships Lab, which examines why certain people are better able to cultivate secure and well-functioning relationships, and precisely how these relationships help people thrive using behavioral and psychophysiological methods.

Check out the full coverage of their exciting work here: https://news.ucsb.edu/2023/021241/are-sportier-people-better-friends-new-research-looks-physical-activity-and-close