Saying "I love you" for the first time is a great emotion, but also embarrassment, because the courage to say this beautiful expression brings with it the risk that you will not get the answer you expected.
A team of researchers from Abertay University Dundee in Scotland studied a group of people to see how they exchanged this expression.
The study, published by the British Psychological Society, involved 3,109 participants from seven countries (Australia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, France, Poland and the United Kingdom) who were asked to complete online questionnaires. 70% of them consisted of women, 30% of men.
In the first survey, participants answered six questions about declarations of love, including "which partner said 'I love you' first" in their most recent relationship. Then, they were asked how long into the relationship they started thinking about saying "I love you," when they actually said it, and when their partner did the same.
Who says "I love you" first?
The results found that in six of the seven countries, men were more likely to express love first. Men said "I love you" after 69 days (2.2 months) into a relationship, while women considered saying it after 77 days (2.5 months). Only in France were there no significant gender differences on this issue.
The researchers said the results could help them rethink their hypotheses about gender, love and why people wait up to 100 days to say or hear the long-awaited statement: "I love you!"
Source: Donna Moderna
