31 Stats About Dating and Love for a Nice Evening on the Town
![31 Stats About Dating and Love for a Nice Evening on the Town](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/8/7/871887_320x180.jpg)
On paper, dating should be pretty simple. You meet someone, you meet up and you essentially go through a strange, drunken mutual job interview where the position is going to the bone zone together — and maybe calling each other again the next day.
But everyone knows that it’s a lot more complicated than that. Even once you've actually managed to find someone who can deal with all of your flaws, there are any number of factors that could determine whether or not you’ll actually be happy together. Married too early? That’ll lose you points. Spend too much on the wedding? That’ll lose you points. But if you save some money by skimping on the honeymoon? Guess what! That’ll lose you some points!
It’s brutal out there.
Photos of Loved Ones
![LOOKING AT A PHOTO OF A LOVED ONE REDUCES PAIN. Looking at a photo of a romantic partner can activate reward systems that reduce pain. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/7/1/871871.jpg)
Source: 18 Scientific Facts About Love & Dating To Ruin The Romance
Heart Rates
![WHEN TWO LOVERS LOOK INTO EACH OTHER'S EYES, THEIR HEART RATES SYNCHRONIZE. Women tend to adjust to their partner's heart rate and respiration more often. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/7/2/871872.jpg)
Source: 18 Scientific Facts About Love & Dating To Ruin The Romance
Relationship Status & Happiness
![YOUR RELATIONSHIP STATUS DOESN'T AFFECT YOUR HAPPINESS AT THE END OF YOUR LIFE. If you're afraid of dying alone, just know that researchers have found people of all relationship statuses to have no significant differences in happiness. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/7/0/871870.jpg)
Source: 18 Scientific Facts About Love & Dating To Ruin The Romance
Leaning to the Right
![HUMANS ARE HARDWIRED TO LEAN TO THE RIGHT WHILE KISSING. All over the world, two-thirds of people lean to the right when going in for a smooch. The kiss recipient will normally mirror the initiator's head movement. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/7/3/871873.jpg)
Source: 18 Scientific Facts About Love & Dating To Ruin The Romance
Breaking Up Over Text Message
![Only 14% of people say it's acceptable to break up over text About half say it's acceptable to end a committed relationship via phone call, but almost everyone says it's preferable to end in person. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/6/9/871869.jpg)
Source: Relationships By The Numbers: 13 Statistics About Dating, Breakups, and Marriage
Public Proposals Are a Bad Idea
![Public proposals are more likely to get rejected 85% of people say they would prefer a private proposal. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/6/8/871868.jpg)
Source: Relationships By The Numbers: 13 Statistics About Dating, Breakups, and Marriage
Heartache is Real
![HEARTACHE REALLY AFFECTS OUR HEARTS. Emotional pain involves the same regions of the brain as physical pain. Emotional stress, like during a breakup, causes muscle tightness, chest pain, and increased heart rate. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/6/7/871867.jpg)
Source: 18 Scientific Facts About Love & Dating To Ruin The Romance
Love & Cocaine
![FALLING IN LOVE TRIGGERS THE SAME EUPHORIA IN THE BRAIN AS COCAINE. It can occur in a fifth of a second. I guess all those songs comparing love to drugs are correct. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/6/2/871862.jpg)
Source: 18 Scientific Facts About Love & Dating To Ruin The Romance
Single Women vs Single Men
![NYC has 200,000 more single women than men If you're a single heterosexual woman, your odds are better out West. San Diego 50,000 more single men than women, Seattle has 46,000 more. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/6/5/871865.jpg)
Source: Relationships By The Numbers: 13 Statistics About Dating, Breakups, and Marriage
Difficulty of Dating
![Half of adults say dating has gotten harder Over the past 10 years, nearly half of U.S. adults say dating is harder. Women are more likely to say they have had negative experiences, with 65% having been harrassed on dates. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/6/6/871866.jpg)
Source: Relationships By The Numbers: 13 Statistics About Dating, Breakups, and Marriage
How Often Do People Meet Online?
![1 in 10 coupled people met their partner online 32% people met their significant other through family or friends. However, 28% of LGB adults in relationships met their partner online. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/6/3/871863.jpg)
Source: Relationships By The Numbers: 13 Statistics About Dating, Breakups, and Marriage
Divorce Rates & Age
![People who marry at 18 have a 60% divorce rate Compare that to people who marry at 23, whose divorce rate is only around 30%. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/6/4/871864.jpg)
Source: Relationships By The Numbers: 13 Statistics About Dating, Breakups, and Marriage
Critical Thinking & Arousal
![SEXUAL AROUSAL TURNS OFF REGIONS IN OUR BRAIN THAT HELP US WITH CRITICAL THINKING. No surprise that you're dumber when you're horny. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/5/7/871857.jpg)
Source: 18 Scientific Facts About Love & Dating To Ruin The Romance
Chemical Love
![LOVE CAN BE CHEMICALLY BROKEN DOWN INTO THREE CATEGORIES. The three stages are lust (testosterone, estrogen), attraction (dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin), and attachment (oxytocin and vasopressin). CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/5/3/871853.jpg)
Source: 18 Scientific Facts About Love & Dating To Ruin The Romance
More Attractive in Red
![WEARING RED MAKES YOU MORE ATTRACTIVE TO OTHER PEOPLE. More importantly, research shows you also feel more attractive in red. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/5/5/871855.jpg)
Source: 18 Scientific Facts About Love & Dating To Ruin The Romance
More Attractive in Groups
![PEOPLE ARE PERCEIVED AS MORE ATTRACTIVE WHILE IN GROUPS. All genders are rated as more attractive when in groups. Researchers believe this is because our facial oddities tend to visually average out when next to others. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/5/0/871850.jpg)
Source: 18 Scientific Facts About Love & Dating To Ruin The Romance
Open Relationships & Happiness
![Open relationships are just as satisfying as monogamous ones Research shows that people in consensual, non-monogamous relationships have equal levels of relationship satisfaction, psychological well-being and sexual satisfaction as people in monogamous relationships. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/5/4/871854.jpg)
Source: Relationships By The Numbers: 13 Statistics About Dating, Breakups, and Marriage
Social Interactions and Health
![Low social interaction is as dangerous to your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day Social connections (including friends and family) improve our odds of survival by 50%. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/5/1/871851.jpg)
Source: Relationships By The Numbers: 13 Statistics About Dating, Breakups, and Marriage
Power Dynamics in Relationships
![Perception of power dynamics is most important for relationship satisfaction Research shows actual positional power, like income or education, doesn't influence relationship satisfaction as much as equality in making decisions in their relationship. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/6/0/871860.jpg)
Source: Relationships By The Numbers: 13 Statistics About Dating, Breakups, and Marriage
The Long You're Together
![The longer you're together, the more likely you are to stay together Married couples are much more likely to stay together than non-married couples. For heterosexual married couples, 3% of those married 5 years broke up to less than 1% married for 20 years. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/5/2/871852.jpg)
Source: Relationships By The Numbers: 13 Statistics About Dating, Breakups, and Marriage
Single Men & Dogs
![SINGLE MEN WHO OWN DOGS ARE MORE ATTRACTIVE. People attracted to men find owning a dog is a sign that a man is more capable of care-giving. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/6/1/871861.jpg)
Source: 18 Scientific Facts About Love & Dating To Ruin The Romance
Height Differences
![PEOPLE PREFER MATES WHO ARE THEIR SAME HEIGHT. Regardless of your height, you have a genetic predisposition to date someone else who is similar in height. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/5/6/871856.jpg)
Source: 18 Scientific Facts About Love & Dating To Ruin The Romance
Teens Who Don't Date
![TEENS WHO DON'T DATE HAVE BETTER SOCIAL SKILLS AND ARE LESS DEPRESSED. Contrary to social pressure, you won't be poorly adjusted if you don't date in high school. In fact, one study showed that you might be happier. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/4/9/871849.jpg)
Source: 18 Scientific Facts About Love & Dating To Ruin The Romance
No One Knows What They Want
![PEOPLE DON'T REALLY KNOW WHAT THEY WANT IN A ROMANTIC PARTNER. People want partners with general positive qualities, but specific qualities you may list for an ideal partner have no predictive value over who you'll date. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/4/8/871848.jpg)
Source: 18 Scientific Facts About Love & Dating To Ruin The Romance
Honeymoons & Divorce
![Go on that honeymoon, if you can Honeymoons decrease the chances of divorce by 41%. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/5/8/871858.jpg)
Source: Relationships By The Numbers: 13 Statistics About Dating, Breakups, and Marriage
About That Wedding Price Tag...
![The more you spend on a wedding, the more likely you are to get divorced Those who spend over $20,000 on their wedding are 46% more likely to get divorced than those who spend $5,000 to $10,000. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/4/3/871843.jpg)
Source: Relationships By The Numbers: 13 Statistics About Dating, Breakups, and Marriage
Percentage of Happy Relationships
![64% of Americans are happy in their relationships 64% self-reported that they are very happy, in their relationship, with 19% saying they're unhappy. Nearly 50% are happy with their sex lives. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/5/9/871859.jpg)
Source: Relationships By The Numbers: 13 Statistics About Dating, Breakups, and Marriage
Love and Lust Gazes
![PEOPLE HAVE DIFFERENT GAZES WHETHER THEY ARE IN LOVE OR LUST. People who see someone as a potential romantic interest will look at their face a half second longer than those who just feel sexual desire. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/4/7/871847.jpg)
Source: 18 Scientific Facts About Love & Dating To Ruin The Romance
Romance & The Cold
![IF YOU'RE PHYSICALLY COLDER, YOU'RE MORE LIKELY TO PICK A ROMANCE MOVIE. We associate romance with warmth. The next time a friend wants to watch a romantic flick you don't, offer them a warm drink. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/4/5/871845.jpg)
Source: 18 Scientific Facts About Love & Dating To Ruin The Romance
Facial Attraction Prefrences
![YOUR FACIAL ATTRACTION PREFERENCES ARE 50% UNIQUE TO YOU. The faces you are attracted to are based on your personal experiences about half the time, not based on genetic disposition or childhood development. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/4/6/871846.jpg)
Source: 18 Scientific Facts About Love & Dating To Ruin The Romance
Attraction and Music
![WOMEN FIND MEN'S FACES MORE ATTRACTIVE WHILE LISTENING TO A FAMILIAR SONG. Heterosexual women said they'd be more likely to date men while stimulating and complex music was playing. This effect was not seen on men. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/4/4/871844.jpg)
Source: 18 Scientific Facts About Love & Dating To Ruin The Romance