Single Ladies, Don't Despair: Men Do Want to Commit
Surprising Survey Turns Around Conventional Wisdom On Men and Women

Recently one of the largest and most comprehensive study looking at singles in the United States produced some very surprising results. The study “Single in America” was performed by the  U.S. Census Bureau and was commissioned Match.com.

The “Single in America” study included 5,200 single men and women between the ages of 21 and 65.

Dr. Helen Fisher of the Institute of Evolutionary Studies at Binghamton University helped to conduct the survey in conjunction with the Census Bureau.

As the study was released Fisher who is also the chief scientific advisor for Chemistry.com, a division of Match.com told reporters,  "We've known for a long time that we're seeing growing economic equality between the sexes, but it was surprising to me that men are adopting some of the attitudes that we've long attributed to women, and women are adopting the attitudes that we've long attributed to men."

It appears according to Fisher, that men are often  stereotyped as being less interested in settling down and having children than women, but the study shows otherwise.

"Men,” Fisher said, “are just as eager to marry or more eager to marry as women are. It's not true that they don't want to commit. Particularly young men, age 21 to 34, are more eager to marry than women are.” Fisher continued, “Men are more eager to have children than women are."

According to the study, 51% of men and 46% of women want to have children between the ages of 21 and 34, which are peak reproductive years.

"Men also fall in love faster, they're more likely to bring a woman home to introduce her to their parents sooner, they're more likely to marry a woman who's got everything they're looking for in a partner” says Fisher.

The study also found that 54% of men say they have experienced love at first sight, as compared to only 41% of women.

Women Are Experiencing 'Tremendous Growth' in Independence

As women make more money, they are valuing their independence more, according to the survey. It may be that the days when marriage was the woman’s only option, are now simply no longer an issue.

Another interesting fact was that women appear to want more nights out with girlfriends than men want nights out with their male friends. Women also want to have their own bank accounts and go more on vacations by themselves than with their spouse or partner. Not only do they desire their new found economic growth, but they are also experiencing a tremendous growth in personal independence.

Currently statistic tell us that there are approximately ninety-six million American, nearly one third of all Americans, who are single. This new survey suggests that the happiest singles are those over the age of 65, and include among both men and women.

"In fact,” according to Fisher, the over 65 group are “the least likely to go into a committed relationship unless they have a deep sense of love and a deep sense of sexual desire. They want everything by then.”

The survey also found that people are a lot more open when it comes to expressing what they're looking for in a partner. When the study asked, “What must you have in a relationship?' and 'What's very important to you?' only 20% of men and 29% of women said that they must have, or it's very important to have, somebody of the same ethnic group. And even fewer men and women had to have somebody of the same religion," said Fisher.

The survey found that only 17% of men and 28% of women believe the religious background of their partner is very important. Prejudices are breaking down, but not just in terms of race and religion. Age difference in partners no longer seems as important, according to the survey.

"In fact something like 21% of women had a date with someone who was 10 or more years younger. We're seeing the decline of racism, of religious needs and age-ism," said Fisher.

"First of all, singles are very romantic. In fact I did a brain study and we found that romantic love can be sustained. The single most interesting thing in this study is that 35% of men and women said that they had initially met someone and not found them terribly attractive and they later felt passionately in love with them. So second looks may be an important part of meeting and choosing a long term partner.

Another interesting fact was that it appears that office romances are few, short and not usually destructive. In the past five years, only 12% of singles dated someone in their office. Most workplace romances lasted less than three months and only 6% of women dated their boss. After breaking up, 56% reported this romance did not affect their professional relationship. Thirty-six percent of singles would consider dating someone in the workplace.

Another interesting fact disclosed was that fidelity is a must. More than 69% of singles regard fidelity as a "must have." In 46% of the singles, where either one or both partners have been unfaithful, 78% of these relationships broke up after the discovery. 70% believe that divorce is acceptable after one or both partners cheat.

How does this information affect you?