Men can never get over a break up

Men take break-ups more easily than women? That may be a myth, if certain studies are anything to go by.

A study in the United States published in 2000 surveyed the effects of divorce in over 2,000 men and women. Paul Costa Junior and his researchers questioned respondents about their personality in their forties and then caught up with them again six to nine years later.

While women showed signs of increased extraversion after a separation, divorced men seemed to have become less conscientious and more emotionally unstable, as well as having found the break-up demoralising.

Another study across 5,705 participants over 96 countries found that men on average feel the loss of a relationship for a longer period of time than women.

Craig Morris, a research associate at Binghamton University on the study, said:

The man will likely feel the loss deeply and for a very long period of time as it sinks in that he must start competing all over again to replace what he has lost - or worse still, come to the realisation that the loss is irreplaceable.

Meanwhile, a paper published this year found that our response may be moderated by our beliefs about personality.

If people agreed with the statement...

the kind of person you are is something very basic about you and it can’t be changed very much

...they were found to be more likely to take rejection more personally or as a reflection on their character - and were thus more likely to find a break up distressing.

HT BBC

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