Valentine’s Day Survey

In time for Valentine’s Day Enholm Law, conducted a survey asking 1500+ participants what is the most important attribute he/she looks for or appreciates in a significant other.

The seven qualities a participant could select, in order, were: honesty, sense of humor, similar lifestyles and/or hobbies, physical attraction or chemistry, religion, confidence, and financial stability. In addition to this, each participant’s age, sex, and geographic location were recorded to further determine correlations of answers.

Below is the percentage breakdown of each trait selected:

[table caption=”” width=”100%” colwidth=”150|50″ colalign=”left|center|left|right”]
Trait,Percentage
Honesty,36.9%
Sense of humor,17.5%
Similar lifestyles and/or chemistry,14.7%
Physical Attraction or chemistry, 10.5%
Religion,8.4%
Confidence,6.2%
Financial stability,5.8%
[/table]

“Honesty” was the most sought after attribute, especially among participants ages 55-64. Below illustrates the full age group breakdown that selected honesty:

[table caption=”” width=”100%” colwidth=”150|50″ colalign=”left|center|left|right”]
Age Range,Percentage
Ages 18-24,29.6%
Ages 25-34,38.8%
Ages 35-44,36.5
Ages 45-54,36.6%
Ages 55-64,50.6%
Ages 65+,36.5%
[/table]

We also found that men picked physical attraction nearly three times as much women did, 15.6% comparing to 5.9%.

Regional Insights

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.

Physical Attraction by Region

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.

Financial Stability by Region

Take Me to Church

Perhaps unsurprisingly, both men and women in the south found the religion of their partner to the most important characteristic.

Religion by Region

Finally, we interviewed Phoenix divorce attorney Angela Enholm to include her views on the survey, and she agreed with the majority that “picking a partner with integrity and honesty will start the relationship on a solid foundation. This is a really good place to start and make it a priority.”