OU research informs new relationship app

An OU academic has fed her research into relationships into a new app which aims to deepen intimacy through 10 minutes of focus a day and has been selected by Google Play as one of the Best Apps of 2020.

Jacqui Gabb, OU Professor of Sociology and Intimacy has been appointed as Chief Relations Officer at Paired, the company which has developed an exciting new app, which is designed to enhance couples’ relationship quality through everyday interactions. The collaboration between the OU and the start-up tech company is a strategic and mutually beneficial partnership.

First professionally endorsed relationship app

The app is the first relationship app with advice from leading experts which are all qualified clinical psychotherapists or academics. It is for same-sex and heterosexual couples. It is designed to improve communication and deepen intimacy, in just 10 minutes or less a day. It combines audio courses from clinical psychotherapists and academics with fun daily questions and quizzes to answer with your partner, helping people to take small, positive steps to improve their relationship each day.

Builds on Enduring Love? research

It builds on Professor Gabb’s research project: Enduring Love? the findings of which highlighted the importance of everyday small gestures as relationship maintenance behaviours which help to sustain a partnership over time. Many of these gestures are incorporated into the new app. Academic research typically reports behaviours via research findings peer-reviewed journal. Results from the Enduring Love? study have already achieved significant reach outside the academy via extensive national and international media engagement, alongside the publication of a self-help book, The Secrets of Enduring Love.

Professor Gabb said: “There’s a strong synergy here between how the Paired app engages couples and the Enduring Love? project findings. Academic research typically reports behaviours via research findings peer-reviewed journals; the partnership with Paired means that it is possible to utilize findings to accomplish significant impact by achieving population-level behavioural change.”

Paired is free to download from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, with a monthly or annual subscription required to access the full range of courses.

Find out more about the impact of OU Research