Survey Says Honesty Wins
Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching and love is definitely in the air; but the meaning of love is different to everyone. Some identify love with trust and honesty while others classify love with companionship. Love can be associated with the chemistry between two people, or about the compatibility between one another.
In the spirit of love, we conducted a survey to determine what the most popular quality is that we look for in a significant other. We were looking for common parallels between groups of people and their idea of love. Is our age a major determinant when we are prioritizing qualities of a significant other? Do men and women see eye to eye on qualities, or are we actually from different planets, searching for opposite things?
Here’s What We Did
A randomized group of over 1500 participants were asked which attribute they look for or appreciate most in a significant other. Seven qualities were showcased for each participant including: physical attraction/chemistry, honesty, similar lifestyles or hobbies, sense of humor, financial stability, confidence, and religion. The age and sex of each participant was recorded along with their top quality, out of these seven options.
Here’s What We Found
Honesty was the highest selected attribute, scoring 36.9%. Looking deeper at this statistic, we saw that there was a direct correlation with different age groups. Older age groups accounted for the majority of participants who selected this trait- over 50% of the participants were over the age of 65. Sense of humor trailed behind as the second quality, at 17.5% followed by similar lifestyles at 14.7%. Physical attraction or chemistry came in next at 10.5%. Men actually picked physical attraction or chemistry three times more than women. Religion came closely behind at 8.4% then confidence at 6.2%. Financial stability was the least selected answer, which proved to be interesting due to the stress our society puts on having a successful career, monetarily speaking.
You’re So Vain, I’ll Bet You Think This Chart is About You
Women in the Northeast and men in the West and South were most concerned with the looks of their partners.
Love Don’t Pay the Rent
Women in the northeast and men in the west were most concerned with the depth of their partner’s pockets.
Take Me to Church
Perhaps unsurprisingly, both men and women in the south were the most concerned with the religion of their partner.
We additionally caught some of these answers on film, to showcase the reaction of different people that were surveyed and the initial responses to participants’ thoughts on love were priceless. Most of the single, younger men that we interacted with didn’t hesitate to say physical looks when asked on the spot. On the opposite end of the spectrum, older couples stressed compatibility and honesty.
In conclusion, we found there was a correlation between the stage of life a person is in and how he or she defines what love is. However, all of these attributes are important when assessing a relationship. When we asked Phoenix Divorce Attorney Angela Enholm about the matter, she agreed that “there is a reason ‘honesty is the best policy’ is a phrase! Picking a partner with integrity and honesty will start the relationship on a solid foundation. From there you can check the other attributes that are important to you with some confidence that you will be able to trust and rely on this person.”
So no matter what your relationship status is or what kind of love you are looking for, we hope you find it this Valentine’s Day.
