Researchers
from Binghamton University and University College London asked 5,705
participants in 96 countries to rate the emotional and physical pain of a
breakup on a scale of one (none) to 10 (unbearable). They found that
women tend to be more negatively affected by breakups, reporting higher
levels of both physical and emotional pain.
Women
averaged 6.84 in terms of emotional anguish versus 6.58 in men. In
terms of physical pain, women averaged 4.21 versus men's 3.75. While
breakups hit women the hardest emotionally and physically, women tend to
recover more fully and come out emotionally stronger.
Men, on the other hand, never fully recover and simply move on.
According
to lead author on the study, Craig Morris, women are evolved to invest
far more in a relationship than a man. A brief romantic encounter could
lead to nine months of pregnancy followed by many years of lactation for
an ancestral woman, while the man may have "left the scene" literally
minutes after the encounter, with no further biological investment.
It
is this "risk" of higher biological investment that, over evolutionary
time, has made wo men choosier about selecting a high-quality mate.
Hence, the loss of a relationship with a high-quality mate "hurts" more
for a woman.
The
man would likely feel the loss deeply and for a very long period of
time as it "sinks in" that he must "start competing" all over again to
replace what he lost or come to the realisation that the loss is
irreplaceable, he added.
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