Study: Surprising Findings on the Impact of Romance on Men's Lifespan

It is generally accepted that romantic relationships mean much more to women than to men. Scientists decided to find out for whom it is more important to be in a permanent relationship.

Unexpected results of a new study have been published, where scientists claim – constancy in relationships significantly affects the emotional state of men, although this topic is the most popular in women's magazines, writes D.W. How did men turn out to be the main romantics?

A team of scientists from three universities – Germany, the USA and the Netherlands – set themselves a difficult task. The study analyzed more than 50 scientific studies on different perceptions of relationships and gender differences in heterosexual couples. From the German side, the Institute of Psychology of the Humboldt University in Berlin participated in this project.

An international research team came to unexpected conclusions that were… published first in the scientific journal Behavioral and Brain Sciences in December 2024. The message appeared on the website of the University of Berlin on Monday, January 6, 2025.

The study's lead author, Iris Waring of Humboldt University, notes that it is clear: men are more focused on entering into a serious relationship:

“Additionally, these relationships have a more positive impact on the well-being and health of men than women. Even men's longer life expectancy than women depends on whether they are in a committed relationship.”

After analyzing more than fifty scientific studies, most of which were published over the past 20 years, scientists came to the conclusion that Men are much less likely to initiate a breakup, since after breaking up with their partner they feel lost and lonely. Men are less likely to see the positive sides of a breakup.

Based on the collected data, an international team of scientists created a model to evaluate gender differences at different stages of relationships. For the academic environment, this model is innovative, scientists emphasize, despite the fact that the relationship between relationship status and health has already been well studied.

The main conclusion that scientists came to: permanent relationships in a psychological sense are more important for men than for women. The researchers also present various arguments in their theoretical model. From their point of view, the most important explanation is emotional needs. Iris Waring says:

“We know from numerous studies that women generally receive more emotional support from their social environment than men. Consequently, heterosexual men are more dependent on their long-term partner to meet their emotional needs than heterosexual women. In short, stable relationships are more psychologically important for men than for women.”

Scientists are confident that the results of their study are relevant* for understanding what is important for our health:

“Social norms are such that women are more likely to share their emotions with others and provide support to each other. This happens more among women than among men.”

Her colleague from Amsterdam, Paul van Lange, explains this by saying that already in childhood, it is easier and “more appropriate” for girls to show their emotions and show their vulnerability. Without a partner, men often lack social contact – a person to whom you can open up. This can have far-reaching consequences on health and morale.

Published research includes data exclusively on heterosexual couplesthe researchers emphasize, and covers the population of industrialized countries.

*Relevance (English relevance – “relevance”) is the degree of correspondence, relevance and reliability, in simple words this is the user’s satisfaction with the response received.

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