Men say "I love you" before women do: Robust in some countries

First published January 27, 2022 Research Article

https://doi.org/10.1177/026540752210

Commentary

Feeling and expressing love is an important aspect of people's romantic relationships, but individuals express their relationship concerns and tendencies to avoid intimacy differently.

Saying "I love you" indicates commitment to a future with a romantic partner.

Contrary to gender stereotypes, this study showed that men were more likely to confess their love first in a U.S. study.

The study tested changes according to attachment style and environment (national sex ratio) and aimed to replicate this gender difference in an online cross-national sample (7 countries, 3 continents). The results showed that men were more likely to confess love first in a relationship, and there was preliminary evidence that this was more pronounced when men had more options.

It was also shown that, independent of biological sex, individuals with highly avoidant personality traits were less satisfied with hearing "I love you" than those with less avoidant traits.

The researchers' findings indicated that previous observations generalize beyond ethnically homogeneous samples and suggest that attachment theory be incorporated into the study of love confessions.