28 Jul, 2012
The Dating Game: Survey Reveals Global Singles’ Behaviours, Beliefs
London (PRWEB UK) 28 July 2012 – Inspired by this year’s global games, match.com, which claims to be the world’s largest dating website, conducted its own international challenge to examine how singles from different cultures match up — or differ — in the dating game. And, in a classic example of British diplomacy and manners in action, Britons were revealed to be the runaway winners in splitting the bill and waiting until the second date for a kiss.
The results revealed some stark cultural differences between singles on topics such as paying for the first date and who is most likely to move in with a partner first. British attitudes on dating proved to be more closely-aligned with those in the US and Canada than with its nearest neighbour, France. Brits and their transatlantic friends had similar feelings on moving in with a partner, women taking the initiative in arranging dates and at what stage a first kiss is acceptable. The French, for their part, had more in common with daters in Japan.
As well as being the most pragmatic in splitting the bill, British daters proved to be the most cynical when it comes to the idea of love at first sight. Just 58% of Brits said that they believed in the phenomenon; the lowest of any nation surveyed and dramatically lower than the 82% of Japanese who are believers.
Here are some of the highlights from match.com’s Dating Championships survey:
● Who pays for the date? Overall, a vast majority of women across the globe reported picking up the bill occasionally, but the responses also indicated that the number of times these single ladies were willing to foot the bill varied wildly by country:
● U.K. women take the gold for splitting the bill 50/50 with a majority (52%) reporting that they offered to pick up the bill on alternating dates — far more often than women in other countries.
● Most likely to pay? Japanese ladies take the gold for the highest percentage (16%) of women who said they pay the tab on a date all the time, with Australia, France, U.K. and U.S. ladies all lagging behind in second place at 4%.
● Least likely to pay? French women take this spot, with 27% of respondents saying they would never pick up the bill while on a date, followed by Australia (20%) and the U.S. (17%).
● Aussies are the most likely to kiss on the first date, while Britons wait for Round Two: 39% of Australian singles are willing to kiss on the first date, while 45% of Brits wait until at least the second date before locking lips. A majority of French singles prefer to wait until they’re in an exclusive relationship before having their first kiss (52%).
● Love at first sight? Japanese singles were top believers in the phenomenon, with 82% affirming its existence compared to the more sceptical U.K, where a lesser 58% (though still a majority) of singles shared this belief.
● U.S. singles win the gold for going on the most dates, with 76% reporting they have gone on two or more dates in the last year, followed by Canada (70%) and the U.K. (68%). Australia and Japan came in last place at 47%, showing singles in these two countries focus on quality over quantity in dating.
● Why are the U.S. and Canada winning the dating race? It could be due to an abundance of bold women, with 63% of Canadian women and 62% of U.S. women reporting that they have asked a man out on a date.
Kiss and tell? The French prefer to keep post-date details private, while U.S. singles bare it all: France wins the gold for being the least likely to kiss and tell, with 35% of respondents not sharing details of their dates with their friends, closely followed by Japan at 30%. On the opposite end of the spectrum, U.S. singles were the most likely to tell their friends everything that happened on a date. 92% admitted they would share at least some details with their pals, with 88% of those in the UK saying the same.
Moving in: Japanese singles are quickest to take the plunge, while Canadians are last to give up their solo living arrangements. When asked how long they expected to date someone before moving in together, Japanese singles were the most willing to cosy-up with their partner after less than a year of dating (59%), followed by Australians (50%). 37% of Britons said that they would move in with their partner in under a year, whilst singles in Canada (31%) and the U.S. (34%) were the least willing to cohabitate with a partner after less than one year of dating.
Hottest singles in the world? Besides expressing loyalty to their own countries, those we surveyed agreed that Southern Europe is home to the hottest singles in the world. Japanese and Aussie respondents preferred the singles in Northern Europe.
Click here to view the Dating Championships infographic
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