International study
Are German relationships less loving?
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A study examined how partnerships differ in different countries. One result: The Germans are apparently less loving in relationships than other nationalities.
A relationship between two (or more) people is something very individual. Each couple finds their very own way of maneuvering the balancing act between closeness and distance, between intimacy and curiosity. Apparently, however, there are also differences between people from different countries, which lead to different priorities and behaviors in partnerships. That has one international study found out, which has dealt with love and relationships in a total of 45 countries.
Large relationship study: how do the Germans fare?
The research team interviewed around 9,500 people in said 45 countries about their relationships. The study participants were asked to indicate on a scale from one to nine how loving they rate their own relationship. The statements they were asked to rate for this are based on the “Triangular Love Scale,” a model that breaks love down into three main components: passion, intimacy, and commitment.
In order to evaluate the results of the participants, the researchers examined the extent to which they are influenced by country-specific factors. These include the degree of modernization, i.e. gender equality and education, collectivism versus individualism, i.e. whether the individual or the community is more important in the culture of the respective country, and the annual average temperature in the region.
Warm modern countries = the most loving relationships?
According to the analysis, the highest values were achieved in advanced countries with high average temperatures, such as the USA, Italy, Portugal and Hungary. According to the evaluation, people in Spain, Australia and Brazil also tend to have loving relationships. An outlier in this series is Norway, a modern but rather cold country that does not seem to lead to chilly relationships.
According to the study, the degree of modernization of the respective country and its culture is directly related to how loving the partnerships are. In the countries with the highest degree of modernization, however, this effect diminishes somewhat – Germany, for example. Because, according to the study, partnerships are less loving in our country than in some other nations, despite our progress. However, the other countries with rather low results in the relationship study have a much less modern and equal culture: Turkey, Pakistan, China and South Korea, for example.
These factors also play a role
Another result of the study is that more collectivistic countries show higher values for commitment and intimacy in the relationship. The altruistic idea of culture is apparently also being transferred to smaller communities. This aspect is particularly exciting because in the more individualistic societies – to which Germany definitely belongs – romantic love plays a greater role in the choice of a partner than in cultures in which arranged marriages are common.
Of course, such results cannot be transferred to all people in a country, as they mostly feed prejudices, for example about the “cool” Germans. In this country and also in Turkey or Pakistan there will be just as loving relationships as there are cold ones in Portugal or Australia. Nonetheless, the study provides an interesting perspective on what external factors can influence partnerships. So maybe we should at least plan our next vacation in a progressive, warm country…
Sources used: progressfocused.com, t-online.de, nature.com