From the first kiss to meeting the friends, there are several important milestones that couples hope to achieve when they start dating.
Now scientists have shed new light on one of the most important steps: saying “I love you.”
Experts at Abertay University found that men across multiple countries and cultures are more likely to confess their love first.
Men say those special three words an average of 107 days (3.5 months) into a relationship, the researchers said.
In contrast, women wait a little longer and confess their feelings after an average of 122 days (four months).
Experts at Abertay University found that men across multiple countries and cultures are more likely to confess their love first (stock image)
In the study, first reported by The British Psychological Associationthe researchers tried to gain insight into the average time it takes people in different countries and cultures to say ‘I love you’.
The team recruited 3,109 participants from Australia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, France, Poland and the UK (70 percent women and 30 percent men), who were asked to complete several online questionnaires.
In the first survey, participants answered six questions about love confessions, including which partner said “I love you” first in their most recent relationship.
They were then asked how long into the relationship they started thinking about saying “I love you,” when they actually said it, and when their partner said it.
Finally, they were asked about their attachment style and how they felt when their partner declared their love.
The results showed that men in six of the seven countries were more likely to confess their love first.
Men thought about saying “I love you” after 69 days (2.2 months), while women thought about it after 77 days (2.5 months).
However, when it came to actually saying it, men confessed their love after an average of 107 days (3.5 months) – 15 days faster than the average woman.
Men considered saying “I love you” after 69 days (2.2 months), while women considered it after 77 days (2.5 months)
Unsurprisingly, most participants felt happy hearing these statements, although attachment style seemed to play a role in this response.
Participants with an ‘avoidant’ attachment style (those who are not dependent on others and seek distance in relationships) were less happy when they were told ‘I love you’, while those with an ‘anxious’ attachment style (those who are preoccupied with their partner’s responsiveness) were happier.
“Avoidant people were less happy to hear a love confession than less avoidant people, while anxiously attached people were happier to hear a love confession than less anxious people, with the latter effect being very small,” the team wrote in their study , published in the Journal of social and personal relationships.
The study comes shortly after Michigan State University researchers revealed that matching personalities isn’t the key to finding “The One.”
In a study of nearly 1,300 couples, experts took a closer look at how five major personality traits influenced relationship satisfaction.
Emotional volatility, open-mindedness and compassion were among these, in addition to how extroverted one is and their conscientiousness.
While it was clear that many are attracted to partners who are similar, this was not seen as crucial for long-lasting love.