Does "gender gap" here matter more than what larger fractions show? For example, they say "women desire more Affirmation" but 49% have it as a top two while 56% have "time" in the top two. Men also have 54% for time in the top two. I feel like that's more interesting than looking at percentage differences (which tbh don't really seem to matter that much for this statistic).<p>EDIT: a striking example of this, they say "women give more gifts" in terms of LL they express, as a finding. But only 32% have this as a top two expressed LL, so a good majority of women don't even have gifts as a top two expressed LL. So, who cares about the percent difference 8%, does it matter? What does it even mean? What if 1% of men did X vs 9% of women? Why would the interesting takeaway be "wow, women are more likely than men to do X!!" vs. "gee, a sheer minority of people do X at all."<p>Saying the words "women are more likely than men to do X" leaves the reader unfortunately with the impression "many women do X," whereas that might not be true.
The data is interesting, but I see it as poor quality. People are horrendously bad at self assessment on average, and many have "main character" syndrome that biases them towards claiming favorable traits they may lack in practice.<p>There's a reason you don't ask a woman for advice on dating women, or men on how to date men. Most people, particularly young people, don't actually know what they want. Personality tests aren't worthless, but you're essentially asking people about themselves that way.<p>A better study should ask one sex their perception of the other. This is imperfect, but I believe personal experience is more useful than self assessment or personality tests. In the end, it's how the sexes <i>actually</i> interact that matters.
While far from a good study, nor a good analysis of the data, it does introduce some aspects to think about in terms of what one wants in a relationship. For example, the PopSci phenomenon of Love Languages is not exactly the most scientifically valid measure; but it still has utility in making people in a relationship become more aware in how to listen and more effectively communicate with a partner. [1]<p>While the study does present the love languages. The section about “love attitudes” seems like it could have similar utility for understanding what one wants in a relationship. Providing some ideas to introspect with about one aims to feel and/or express in a relationship. I'm wondering if anybody here has any good resources on the topic? Since the site and study seems to keep mum on that topic.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.mic.com/life/do-love-languages-actually-matter-psychologists-weigh-in-18799908" rel="nofollow">https://www.mic.com/life/do-love-languages-actually-matter-p...</a>
Is there even a consensus that love languages are a valid concept? I ask because it's hard to see how falsifiable the idea is, reading about love languages seems highly "westernized" when love is a universal feeling not bound by culture.<p>How do love languages apply to women in Saudi Arabia or Papua New Guinea? What about subsistence farming communities in Africa? What about native tribes in Brazil or Colombia?<p>IDK, love languages seem like any other pop psychology fad like Myers–Briggs or whatever came before it then promptly forgotten.
All things considered, I was expecting there to be much higher gap between genders and ages.
At only one point is there more than a 10% difference. In my experience men and women claim entirely different wants and needs.
No wonder that a website based around personality testing that describes the author's INTP score would uncritically engage with the ideas of love languages and attitudes - former of which is based on the anecdotal observations of a priest and was never well-validated by science
I wonder how much the small number of "gift" lovers is because of cultural mores, that if you say, "oh yeah mostly what I want is my significant other gifting me things" you sound like a shallow gold digger.
Gender stereotypes are social issues. They are not international and also differ per age cohorts even in the same region. I would be curious to see the same set of results split into different demographics and not just gender + age cohort.