National Boyfriend Day is October 3: a simple way to mark it

Tomorrow, October 3, is National Boyfriend Day. It is an informal holiday with no official sponsor. It is thought to have started around 2014 and became widely known after it took off on social media in the following years. Today it is mostly a reason for a post, a card or a small plan.

If you want to mark it, research suggests the most meaningful gesture is free. Psychologist Sara Algoe at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill studied 77 couples who were filmed thanking each other. After receiving a thank-you, people saw their partners as more responsive to their needs and felt more satisfied with the relationship, and those effects were still there six to nine months later. Algoe found that gratitude helped on its own, separate from other kind behavior.

The key is being specific. A general "thanks for everything" is nice, but naming one thing your partner did and what it meant to you lands better. For example, thank them for picking up groceries on a long day, or for listening when you needed to talk.

If you are single, the day has also become a lighthearted online celebration of single life, so there is room for everyone.

Tonight or tomorrow, try saying one specific thank-you out loud to someone you love. It takes a few seconds and tends to stay with people.