Schnucki principle: couples with pet names are happier

Prize question: How do you recognize happy couples? Big grin? Maybe. At the partner look? Hardly likely. A little tip: Above all, we have to listen carefully …

Mouse, sweetheart, bear, rabbit or mouse bear – whatever you say to your loved one is a good sign. Unless you call him by his normal name – then there may be a very small reason to worry …

A nickname signals familiarity

Because pet names, according to the unanimous opinion of couple therapists, signal love and familiarity. And they show that the partner comes first for the other. Back in 1993, researchers found in a study that couples who use nicknames for each other are generally happier than those who don't.

And of course Schnucki, Schatzi and Co. are still among the most popular means to differentiate one favorite person at our side from all the other people with whom we otherwise have to do …

How the "Schnucki principle" connects

In an international survey of more than 1,000 Europeans and Americans, around 80 percent of the participants recently stated to "Onlinedoctor.superdrug" that they use a special name for their sweetheart, the

  • firstly only use them and the them
  • second, do not use it for anyone else.

However, the survey also showed that Schnucki is not just Honey. As it turned out, some pet names are apparently not at all popular and even trigger aggression rather than feelings of tenderness and solidarity. At the top of the hate scale among those surveyed were the names "Papi" (73 percent) and "Daddy" (72 percent), closely followed by "Sweet Cheeks" (roughly: "Sweet-Cheeks") with 66 percent .

In contrast, classics such as "Schatz", "Süße", "Babe" and "Bärchen" seem to be under a better star: Of the couples who use one of these names for their partner, more than 80 percent said that their relationship was in each case be happy. For those who want to know exactly, here are the top 11 (European) nicknames of happy couples:

  1. Honey (93 percent)
  2. Cutie (90 percent)
  3. Hun (90 percent)
  4. Gorgeous (89 percent)
  5. Beautiful (88 percent)
  6. Baby (87 percent)
  7. Mousebear (87 percent)
  8. Babe (85 percent)
  9. Honey (85 percent)
  10. Sugar (83 percent)
  11. Bear (83 percent)

Pet names are often insiders

Psychologist Denise Lemongello told Elite Daily that nicknames bring people closer together because they are usually associated with a shared experience. Maybe with a funny insider who no one else knows. Pet names thus create a kind of exclusivity between lovers.

What pet names can't

However, anyone who thinks that the right nickname can solve relationship problems will have to be disappointed: The "Schnucki principle" is not a healing method or medicine, but just an expression or symptom of a harmonious and healthy relationship. And as with all other symptoms, the same applies here: Just because it occurs in the majority, it doesn't have to occur in everyone. In other words: Of course, you can love and trust each other with all your heart even without a nickname – as long as you show it to yourself in your own way.

Video tip: The most important word in the five languages ​​of love