Study confirmed
Men struggle with lovesickness more than women
© stockfour / Shutterstock
Who would have thought: A new study shows that men not only seek advice on relationship problems very often – they also suffer more from lovesickness than women.
The prejudice still circulates that men are less emotionally involved in relationships than women. The cliché of the cool guy, for whom only one thing counts and who under no circumstances shows (or even has …) feelings, holds up well. On the other hand, there is the over-emotional woman who takes everything to heart and puts significantly more feelings into a relationship. But, is this really the truth? One new study contradicts this prejudice of the cold-hearted man and makes surprisingly clear: Men may even suffer more from lovesickness than women.
A team of researchers from Lancaster University in the UK has investigated relationship problems in people outside of the therapeutic context. “Most of the insight into relationship problems comes from studies of people in couples therapy,” explains Charlotte Entwistle, lead author of the study. “And that is usually a certain subgroup of people – people who have the time, money and leisure to work on their problems in the relationship. We wanted to know not only which problems the general public suffers most often, but also who exactly has these difficulties the most. “
Study on lovesickness and the like: Men may even suffer more than women
More than 184,000 people posted about their relationship difficulties in an anonymous online forum. The scientists of the study were able to crystallize the most common topics from the posts. These included communication problems with 20 percent and a lack of trust with just under 13 percent.
Perhaps the most important finding of the study concerns the differences between the sexes in the perception of relationship problems. Contrary to their own expectations, the scientists found that men discuss lovesickness significantly more often than women. The researchers recognized this primarily in word clusters around terms such as “regret”, “separation”, “crying”, “broken heart” etc.
Interesting … This result refutes the cliché that has been circulating for decades that men are emotionally dull and that the relationship is not really important to them. “The fact that lovesickness is discussed more by men than women makes it clear that men are at least as emotionally involved in the partnership as women,” confirms Charlotte Entwistle.
The Internet contributes to the destigmatization of relationship problems in men
Another, perhaps just as surprising, result: men are more likely to seek advice on their love problems in online forums. Dr. Ryan Boyd, another author on the study, explains, “Traditionally, women were more likely to identify relationship problems and consider therapy.” But if you remove the social stigma of the man who is not allowed to seek help and can talk about his feelings, they seem just as interested as women in working on difficulties in the relationship.
Hopefully, studies like this can help advance precisely this positive development – namely that it is important and healthy to talk about your feelings and problems and to seek help. No matter what gender you belong to.
Source used: Sciencedaily.com