It’s funny how we can find it ridiculous to hear a couple call themselves respectively “Rabbit” and “Baby of love” and find completely normal to baptize our man “Doudou” or “Kitten”. But scientists have finally discovered why lovers have this overwhelming need to call themselves by nicknames . And it follows from this study that as silly as it sounds from the outside, the use of nicknames would rather be a positive signal. Calling each other by a cute little name is indeed a sign that an intimacy and a bond has been established in the couple and that the partners have created a bubble just for them.
Carol Bruess, author of the first study on the subject, confides in Scientific American : “I think it is really human and natural behavior to use language and to shape it for our own ends. I think it is so that nicknames evolve. We name things, we give symbols to those things, and over time, we tend to manipulate those symbols naturally. ” She thus discovered during her research that the use of nicknames was a marker of marital satisfaction, the affirmation of a kind of “relational solidarity”. Basically, the more couples communicate in their own language, the more fluid the relationship.
A symbol of attachment in the couple
“Baby”, “Doudou”, “Kitten”, most of the nicknames look like the first words you learned when you were a baby . They have a reassuring connotation and are also the simplest words to pronounce that are taught to children. Reusing them with their other half also serves to reassure them by using terms specific to childhood and the feelings of security and sympathy that their memory is supposed to give us.
A nickname is therefore a symbol of attachment in the couple. This is confirmed by Psychology Today , explaining that these nicknames from baby language and pets evoke the need we have to feel loved as our parents loved us, this unconditional and reassuring love to which we all aspire.
In addition, as Hellogiggles points out , this type of intimate exchange makes it possible to secrete several hormones – dopamine, oxytocin and phenylethylamine – immersing us in a feeling of security and proximity. Knowing all this, we hasten to share this major info to his Loulou without delay!
