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Now, in a surprising challenge to age-old stereotypes, researchers have discovered that it is the man, not the woman, who is most likely to be the first to say ‘I love you’ in a blossoming romance. American scientists conducting this vital work have found that young men are three times more likely to take this plunge than their girlfriends.But lest the findings be taken as evidence of a new breed of sensitive males, the researchers say there may be a more cynical explanation – that the men are simply trying to smooth-talk their partners into bed. Or, in their detached, academic terminology: ‘Any strategy serving as the means to a sexual end would be beneficial to men, including declarations of love.’ They came to their conclusion after interviewing 171 heterosexual students under 25.A sizeable majority – 87 per cent – said they believed women fell in love first, while three-quarters said they expected women to say ‘I love you’ first. But when asked about their own experiences, men said it took them a few weeks to realise they had fallen in love, compared with a few months for women. It is probably no coincidence that this coincides with the average timescale when each partner wanted to have sex – within weeks for men and months for women. Some 64 per cent of men admitted they had said ‘I love you’ first, compared with just 18 per cent of women. |
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