Japanese survey asks exactly why people broke up with their partners

The first result makes a surprising amount of sense.

Now that Christmas and New Year have been tidied away and taken care of, many countries are gearing up for Valentine’s Day—which cynical people may describe as just an excuse to sell lots of chocolate, and others deride as a humiliating way to remind people how lonely they are. But as it isn’t February yet, why not savor some schadenfreude for all the couples that ultimately broke up?

Webstar Marketing’s LoveMA, a website that specializes in surveys about romance and dating, released the results of their survey about the reasons why people in relationships split up. 495 men and women aged from their teens to their 50s were asked what reasons they had for leaving their partner, and now we present them to you!

1. Difference in values (91 votes)
2. Flirting (60 votes)
3. It was a long-distance relationship (42 votes)
4. Things cooled off/I ended up hating them (33 votes)
5. I felt trapped (27 votes)
6. I found someone else that I liked (26 votes)
7. We had different views about marriage (25 votes)

There are a lot of varied reasons, with some of them speaking to serious breakdowns in communication and compatibility, that showed little chance of being repaired. If you’ve “ended up hating” someone that you were in a relationship with, it’s a tough ask to turn that around. Likewise, people who have found a new love have already moved on in their hearts, so the current relationship isn’t likely to get much better.

The seventh entry, “different views about marriage”, offers a bit more potential. If the partners discuss marriage frankly and sincerely, there might be a hope of reconciling. But the first answer is especially intriguing, particularly when it pulled ahead of all the other reasons by such a large margin of votes.

▼ “Sorry, honey. I just can’t stay with a guy that doesn’t meet My Melody’s mom’s standards.“

“Difference in values” can mean a lot of things. It can be different approaches to money, different political views, or even different hobbies. Those surveyed could leave comments about the answers that they chose, and the ones who picked “difference in values” had a lot of illuminating things to say:

“He’s a homebody and I love the outdoors, so we couldn’t agree on anything. There was a huge mismatch in our personalities.” (Woman in her 20s)
“There was a switch in workplaces among other things, and after that our moral systems got out of sync with each other.” (Man in his 30s)
“Our financial attitudes were worlds apart. He would always use up any money he had.” (Woman in her 30s)

Now, it’s uncommon to meet someone who shares all of your opinions and views about everything. But when even a small discrepancy exists, it seems that it has to be addressed frankly between the partners…or else the relationship will fail.

The survey also included questions about lingering attachments and feelings of regrets about ex-partners. Men who responded to the survey tended to feel these attachments more intensely than women, with 63.1 percent of men professing to still have feelings for their exes compared to 39.9 percent of women. In general, 46.9 percent of recipients said they still had feelings for those old partners, so make of that what you will.

Does this list hold true for your own relationships? Let us know in the comments!

Source: PR Times
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert image: Pakutaso
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