Men and women are biologically different, even when it comes to relationship break-ups, according to a report by the Telegraph. Wake Forest University in North Carolina recently published a study concluding — quite surprisingly — that men become more emotionally hurt than women when ending a relationship.
The research, first published in the Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, surveyed 1,000 unmarried adults between the ages of 18-23.
As The Telegraph would have it:
This may be because women often have close relationships with family and friends in addition to a partner whereas a young man’s romantic partner may be his primary source of intimacy. When a relationship goes wrong it has a greater impact on men’s identity and self-worth, researchers said.
Professor Robin Simon, who co-wrote the study, says that men place relatively high value on the quality of their ongoing relationships and are more likely than women to become substance abusers after break-ups. Women, by contrast, often show their emotional despair through depression and value simply having a relationship more than having a consistently happy one.