The key to a happy and healthy relationship has always remained a baffling enigma to humans. And although we all know the tried and tested basics by now - mutual respect, hard work, sharing a giggle, giving them the last Rolo - a lot of us just can't seem to get it right. Right on cue, after yet another cataclysmic break-up, we're back where we started, sipping wine with our friends and cursing the fact that, not only are we single again, we also don't have the writing chops to pen a Taylor Swift-esque quintuple platinum break-up song. But as it turns out, the majority of us may have been placing our eggs in the wrong basket ever since entering the brutish battleground of romance. A fascinating 2017 study claims to have found that those of us in open relationships are happier than those in monogamous ones. Could it be true? Could an open relationship be the key ingredient we're missing? Some experts certainly think so. The study at the University of Michigan analysed more than 2,100 people in order to determine if there were significantly different outcomes between the two styles of love affair. Asking around 1,500 individuals in monogamous relationships and 600 participants in committed non-monogamous relationships to rate relationship components including satisfaction, commitment, trust, jealousy and passionate love, ultimately the research found no difference between the two in terms of satisfaction and passionate love. However, with jealousy and trust, there were notable results that led them to believe happiness was inflated when both partners agreed to allow their mate to have sexual relations with others; reactions showed that jealousy was lower and trust was higher. So, instead of monogamous, should we all become "monogamish"? From the perspective of someone who has always tied themselves to one partner, it seems a bit of a rogue move. But, then again, they do say you should do things that scare you - especially if there's a chance it could make you happier. VT spoke to Alex, who is currently in an open relationship, to see if she agreed with the new theory. She told us: "I don't know if I'm necessarily happier than other people, but in open relationships I've had, I've always felt that my partner and I had a lot more trust and honesty with one another than people who were part of an exclusive couple. I can't speak for others, of course, but I think we're definitely more easy-going when it comes to issues like cheating or liking other people." She continued: "I think it's definitely something that couples should feel open to discussing, but I also know that it's not for everybody. I guess there are various factors that come into play - age, sexuality, whether or not the couple has children - and nobody should ever feel pressured into trying it." You or I may question the reliability of the study. For example, what happens when the green-headed monster comes knocking? It can't be denied that open relationships aren't for everyone and if you hate the thought of your partner canoodling with others, chances are you'll never be into it. Yet, similarly to monogamous relationships, there are often certain guidelines in open relationships that need to be followed in order to keep both parties completely happy. Alex stressed the idea that, for her and a lot of other people currently in open relationships, other partners are purely for fun and nothing else - and if the extra partner becomes anything more, everything could be thrown off balance. "Previously I had struggled a bit with a polyamorous relationship, as the person I was with spent a lot of their time with somebody else," she admitted. "But an open relationship is different - we have each other, but we also have the option to just have fun and not worry about hurting anyone." When it comes to this type of relationship, there can be a lot of judgement. Open relationships are often plagued by assumptions that the people in them are being "greedy," that they are justifying cheating or that the partners don't care about each other enough to be happy in their primary relationship. However, the University of Michigan research team found that individuals actually had more satisfaction, trust, commitment and passionate love in their primary mate than their secondary relationship, whereas people in open relationships were significantly less satisfied and less committedto their relationship. So there you have it. The experts have spoken. Obviously open relationships won't make everyone happier, but it seems that the people they do work for make a tremendous success out of them. We only had one more question for Alex: People change their minds all the time, did she ever see a point where being in an open relationship didn't work for her? She responded: "That's a good question and one that my partner and I had to think about before agreeing to have an open relationship. I think there's definitely a chance it won't work in the future, as the nature of relationships change all the time. But I don't see that as a problem. We made the decision that we would only have an open relationship if both of us wanted it, and that we'd go back to being exclusive if it began to get difficult for either of us at any point." Her words are enlightening. At the end of the day, in relationships, you need to do what's good for you at that particular time. And if what's good for you changes over time, then it's time to reassess what it is that's going to make you happy. So, in the aftermath of the study, are people going to be sitting down to reassess their romances? I wouldn't count on it. But reports do show that the subject is never far from certain people's minds. Apparently, studies show that nearly 50 per cent of all Americans would consider being in an open relationship. And, if they think it would work for them, perhaps they should go for it - I hear it makes you pretty happy.

Hopefully, everyone reading this right now has experienced at least one happy relationship in their life. It might have been a short fling, or it could be a long-term deal that you're still very content with today. Either way, you'll know what it's like to get totally caught up with someone else.

But, for all the good times you spend with that person, there's always one niggling side effect that you wish you could have avoided. You see, after all those dinner dates, the cozy Saturday nights spent with a takeaway pizza, and the lovingly-gifted boxes of chocolate, the relationship might have grown substantially - but so did your waistline.

And, while it's been easy to blame someone else for us getting fat all this time, scientists have finally confirmed that - actually - weight-gain in a relationship is a totally legitimate thing.

A new study conducted by the University of Queensland in Australia collected a decade's worth of data from more than 15,000 people and analyzed the amount of weight that individuals gained (or didn't) while being in a happy relationship.

What they discovered was that people who were part of a couple weighed, on average, 13 pounds more than their single counterparts, and gained an average of four pounds each year.

There are a number of speculative reasons for this difference, but the obvious ones would be the aforementioned indulgent lifestyle people often engage in when they're dating someone and, of course, the fact that folks don't tend to worry about their figure so much if they know that their partner would be happy with them even if they did gain a little weight here and there.

However, it's not all bad news for the loved-up couples out there.

The extensive study also discovered that, compared to single people, those in relationships tended to have generally healthier habits overall. They smoked less often, consumed less fast food, and were more likely to eat fruits and vegetables on a regular basis.

Plus, it's been proven before that happiness is linked to better health and a longer lifespan. Of course, this isn't to say that you can't be single and happy - of course you can - it just shows that those in relationships often have a better support system in place for when something bad does go down.

It also happens that happiness is also linked to body mass.

"Satisfaction is positively associated with weight gain," said Andrea Meltzer, the head researcher of a similar survey conducted by the Southern Methodist University in Dallas. "Spouses who are more satisfied tend to gain more weight, and spouses who are less satisfied tend to gain less weight."

So, if you have put on a little extra while being with your significant other, don't worry - it's just a sign that you're comfortable together. And, if you're currently single and feeling sorry for yourself, just remember that at least you have this as a one-up on all those loved-up couples

As anyone in a relationship will tell you, having trust in one another is absolutely essential in maintaining a healthy balance of happiness and respect. However, trust means different things to different people and, in some cases, it can alter to the extreme. Whether its acceptance of an open relationship and your partner becoming sexually involved with others, or expecting them to remain true and wholly committed to you and no one else, relationships work in different ways depending on the people involved.

In light of this, 20 people have revealed the extreme things they let their partner get away with and some are likely to shock you.

1. I'm not sure it works like that

2. As long as you trust her, that's okay

3. To each their own

4. Is he yours if he is cheating?

5. If you say so...

6. The more she fools around, the more likely it is that will happen

7. It depends what the "talking" involves

8. Sharing is caring

9. At least they operate a 'no touching' policy

10. An open book... literally

11. Fair enough

12. This sounds like a good setup 

13. As long as the romance has gone

14. But does he trust you?

15. Yeah, you are insane for being cool with this

16. Trust needs to work both ways

17. Can you be in love with multiple people at once?

18. Will they ever be "just friends"?

19. If you trust him, then don't worry

20. This is a very flawed logic 

Some of these are undoubtedly more extreme than others, but they show the ways in which trust and relationships differ from person to person. At the end of the day, if you're happy with how your relationship works that is all that matters.

Being single: you either love it or you hate it. For some people, being single is the best thing ever - you have zero responsibilities and can enjoy being in the company of yourself and your friends. For others, the idea of being single is frightening and they would much rather be in a relationship with someone than be alone. But while women may stereotypically be stamped as more "clingy" and wanting to settle down quicker than men, it turns out this archaic labeling couldn't be further from the truth. According to new research, there are plenty of strong, independent women out there who are happier being single than in a relationship, because to paraphrase, they are sick of men's bulls**t. While that's the simple truth of it, the more detailed reason behind women's enjoyment of independence is that they are sick of the amount of work that a relationship requires from them, rather than their male counterparts. Consumer analysts Mintel carried out the research, which found that 61 per cent of women were happy to be single, compared to 49 per cent of single men. Sometimes it can seem like the majority of the world's single population uses Tinder, but it turns out that 75 per cent of single women have not actively been seeking a relationship in the last year, while 65 per cent of men have also not bothered searching for love - suggesting that plenty of people from both sexes are happy to be on their own. Speaking to the Telegraph, Professor Emily Grundy said that she reckons the results are reflective of the emotional labour that women endure when they enter a relationship with a man. "There’s evidence that women spend longer on domestic tasks than men and I think they also do more emotional work – so they still do more housework and cooking and things as well as more emotional labour," she explains. According to the Grundy, emotional labour may appear small but it can be incredibly draining on women. Things like having to get prepared and look fancy for date nights, through to having to constantly iron shirts can end up wearing women out. However, there is also another key factor in the rising number of single women: it is now acceptable for women to be independent. While women used to be expected to marry and have children at a young age, there has now been a shift towards how women are "meant" to behave in society - with their being much more of a focus on being independent and strong. Things like getting married and having children are no longer the end goal for women, they are now focused on having fulfilling careers, finding happiness and enjoying their life with or without a relationship. Grundy also suggests that women are happier being single as they tend to be better at socialising with others and making connections with friends. "Women tend to be better at having alternative social networks and other confidantes whereas men tend to rely quite heavily on their wives for that and have fewer other social ties," she says. "Certainly there’s a common finding from a lot of studies that women who don’t have a partner tend to do more social activities and more friends compared to women with partners whereas with men it’s the reverse – men without a partner tend to do much less of that. "So it may be that women have a wider range of alternatives." Basically, while men are keen to find a partner that they can rely on and confide in, women know that they don't need a man to perform that role for them. The pressures on women entering a relationship with a man are loosening and that can only be seen as a positive thing.

Almost every single movie and fairytale out there tells us that searching for your true love is all there is to life. And with your grandma asking you every damn Christmas why you don't have "that lovely Martin fellow from your high school" with you again this year, it's hard not to believe that you shouldn't be putting all your life's efforts into courting an appropriate mate. But alas, that's just what society tells us. In fact, various counts of research show that single women are actually way happier than what people think they are. While the ladies from accounts payable might look across the room at the work Christmas party and titter "oh, poor Suzy, she's come alone again this year", little do they know that Suzy is actually having the time of her life right now and may be well better off than they are. Here's why. For one, a consumer market research report conducted in the UK this year found that being in a relationship as a heterosexual woman is actually quite laborious as – despite all the progress we've done for equal rights and all that – women are still found to be subject to more emotional labour and domestic labour in relationships than their male counterparts. Being single, therefore, gives them a sense of more freedom. The same study found that women are better than men at maintaining different circles of friends and social networks, meaning that even if they're single, women can still enjoy healthy friendships and a positive support network to rely on and to satisfy social needs. Being lonely when you're single – says WHO? What's more is that being single can actually make individuals more independent, more self-determined and less likely to make their relationship their main source of happiness. Single women become more confident in doing things alone and strive to keep growing and learning, according to Harvard psychologist Dr Bella DePaulo. She says people often neglect to think about the "creative, intellectual, and emotional potential of solitude". "Missing from the stacks of journal articles is any sustained attention to the risks of intensive coupling," she writes, "or to the resilience offered by the networks of friends and family that so many single people maintain." And while it's not suggested that people in healthy and loving relationships are miserable sods in comparison to these free-spirited and self-confident singletons, Dr DePaulo argues that it's not the relationship that makes a person happy, but the state of the individual themselves. "If you are not already a happy person, don’t count on marriage to transform you into one. If you are already happy, don’t expect marriage to make you even happier…finally, if you are single and happy, do not fret that you will descend into despair if you dare to stay single. That’s not likely either." But it shouldn't take all these theories and studies to say that people who are single aren't necessarily unhappy. It's just the way society has taught us to think, and now, it's time to break that stigma. Stick it to your grandma – so what if you never bring a date to Christmas lunch ever again?

Picture the end of your relationship. It could be something you've expected for weeks, months, even years. Or it could come as suddenly and unexpectedly as a heart attack. Imagine your significant other with someone else. It's not a pretty picture, is it? Think of the betrayal and the hurt that comes with the thought of your partner in someone else's arms. It's a trauma so damaging that some people never regain their trust, and it can do irrevocable harm to future relationships. Yet millions of people around the world are unfaithful to their partners every year. Why is this? Our popular perception of cheating tends to be influenced by the melodrama of soap operas; we often view it as a secret and clandestine act of unbridled passion. But by the same token, it's assumed that only those who are unhappy and dissatisfied with their current relationship cheat, and that flirting with other parties is merely a method of expressing underlying angst or emotional strife, a form of compensation for the entitled. Similarly, cheaters are invariably portrayed as callous and sociopathic, undeserving of forgiveness or a modicum of understanding. Yet a Victoria Milan survey by Dr Helen Fisher determined that 54 per cent of men and 34 per cent of women who cheated stated that they were "very happy" with their current relationship, despite their indiscretions. So it's clear that our assumptions about cheating might be wrong. What is it that motivates people to break the social contract? Why do good people, people who are otherwise caring parents, loyal friends and model citizens, screw around behind the back of their loved ones? Is it always a conscious choice between dishonesty and the truth, between love and lust? Or is cheating deterministic? Are cheaters simply automatons governed by a jerry-rig of hormones, passion and animal psychology? Science has been investigating the motivations behind serial adultery and chronic cheaters, and the results are intriguing. [[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqQf4Sg1g9w]] Scholars from the University of California, Los Angeles Centre on Behavior, Culture, and Evolution and the University of New Mexico have determined that women's hormones play a part in cheating. According to a study published in the Journal of Hormones and Behavior, surveyed women were more likely to cheat when they are ovulating, but that ovulation typically only led to cheating if their partners were not sexually active enough. In couples that had sexual intercourse more often, the fertile women were content to stick with their partners. In light of this data, co-author Elizabeth Pillsworth stated: "Women who are most attractive are most fertile, and they also tend to be the targets of other men to steal them away. I hope the message women get is that they can use this information to realise their biology is toying with their desires and to ask themselves, 'Am I going to let that run my life, my sexual decision-making?'" By contrast, men are more likely to cheat as a result of what they perceive to be an important milestone: they are just as vulnerable to their body's internal clock, but this has more to do with ageing than a menstrual cycle. In 2014, researchers observing male activity on Ashley Madison, the infamous dating site for people seeking affairs, and discovered that men were more likely to seek extramarital affairs when their age ends in the number nine or the number four: so it seems as though a mid and quarter-life crisis plays a part in the way males seek alternative sexual outlets. Some scientists believe that genetics may play a part in the way we conduct our sexual dalliances and that the way our genes are coded explains how some people end up hooking up. A study from the University of Queensland, published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior, determined that infidelity is more common among people with specific types of oxytocin and vasopressin receptor genes. Vasopressin is a hormone which is often released into the hypothalamus gland, and which plays an important part in human social behaviour, sexual motivation and pair bonding. People with developed vasopressin receptors are more inclined to be loyal and trusting, and dependent on their partners. Those with dampened hormonal receptors will experience vasopressin less intensely than others, making them more promiscuous and daring when it comes to sex, but also less attached to their partners and more inclined to cheat. Dopamine, also known as the "pleasure hormone" also plays a part in determining innate fidelity. This neurotransmitter is released into the bloodstream during or after we participate in things that provide us with pleasure, such as exercising, eating, laughing, playing video games, and most importantly for our purposes, during sexual intercourse at the point of orgasmic release. Research has determined that those of us possessing long-alleled dopamine receptors are approximately 50 per cent more likely to cheat on their partners than people born with short-alleled dopamine receptors, who have been recorded to cheat around 20 per cent of the time. Not only this, but it has been observed that people with long-alleled dopamine receptors are bigger risk-takers, are more likely to indulge in thrill-seeking behaviours and likely to become addicted to the illicit sex and excitement that cheating provides them. In times gone by, when marriage was a solemn oath taken under religious observance, cheating was the last recourse of the desperately unhappy or those with no self-respect. But in the 21st century, where marriage is a more liberal institution that it has ever been, cheating is no less widespread. Infidelity occurs in bad relationships and in good ones. It even happens in open relationships where the terms of sex are negotiated beforehand, and the widespread prevalence of social media means that it is easier than ever for people to keep in touch with those they harbour sexual feelings for. There are common behaviours and external factors which motivate men and women to cheat, but ultimately it seems as though no matter how biologically or psychologically inclined you are to cheat, every single person in a relationship still has the agency to choose whether to do so. Featured illustration by Egarcigu