Women move on & recover faster than men, but hurt more in relationship break-ups

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Breaking up may be harder for men than women, as it takes men longer to fully get over past realtionships than women, suggests a scientific study focused on relationships and breaking up.

The study was recently published in the journal of  Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences and conducted by researchers from Binghamton University from New York and University College London in the UK, reports HNGN. 

The study also revealed that women may feel more emotional and physical pain directly after a break-up, but in the long-run get over the relationship faster. Meanwhile, men do not initially feel pain from a break-up, but over time the pain emerges, making it harder to get over the relationship.

About 6,000 people from 96 different countries participated in the study by answering a multiple choice survey with a essay portion at the end, which allowed the participants to freely express their feelings after break-ups.

The participants were tasked to rate the emotional and physical pain after a break-up from a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 meaning no pain at all and 10 meaning the pain was unbearable. 

The researchers defined emotional pain as feelings of sadness and depression, anxiety, fear, and loss of focus. Whereas physical pain was identified as having insomniac tendencies, panic attacks, eating disorders, and fluctuating weight, reports Live Science.

After answering the survey, the British researcher analyzed the behavioral and psychological affects of a break-up, comparing the different reactions of the male and female gender. 

In the multiple choice scale, which rated emotional and physical pain, women averaged 6.84 and 4.21. The men averaged just a bit lower than women with 6.58 and 3.75.

Craig Morris, lead reasearch of the study, explains on Health Day that women are more invested in a relationship than men, since a short romance can culminate in children that they will have to raise if the man leaves. 

Morris also states that in the essay portion, men wrote about past relationships in the present tense, revealing that the emotional and physical pain were still present in their lives. Whereas, women referred to their pain in the past tense and ultimately concluded that they were "over" the break-up.

Researchers of the study believe that women move on quicker from break-ups because they have healthy coping mechanisms. For instance, women openly express their feelings of pain and misery with their friends. Women also tend to support each other more during a break-up.

On the other hand, men tend to keep quiet about their emotions and typically turn to drinking alcohol and other vices to soothe their pain, reports Starmine News. Furthermore, men tend to get involved in another relationship while still grieving for the previous one.