7 Ways to Show Your Partner You Care
by Erina Lee | February 15th, 2008Cuddling on the couch, kisses when you come home from work, hand holding on a walk with your partner. According to research conducted by Andrew Gulledge and his colleagues, daily behaviors can be important in expressing love and affection, and they can also be good for your relationship. Researchers studied 7 specific types of physical affection and in their results found that not all behaviors were favored equally by men and women. Here are the orders in which each of these behaviors is preferred (1 being most important):
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Men’s favorite ways: |
Women’s favorite ways: |
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1) Kissing on the lips |
1) Cuddling |
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2) Cuddling |
2) Kissing on the lips |
|
3) Hugging |
3) Hugging |
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4) Massages |
4) Holding hands |
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5) Caressing |
5) Kissing on the face |
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6) Kissing on the face |
6) Massages |
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7) Holding Hands |
7) Caressing |
Despite the differences rank order, not all of the ordered differences were meaningful. Further analyses showed that significant differences lied in only a few of the items. Specifically, women enjoyed hand holding and hugging more than men, and men preferred giving backrubs more than women.
In discussing these findings, the authors noted that these results were found in a sample of college studies, and that preferences may be more individualized than can be seen from these averages. This may be a good reminder that not all people share the same preferences, especially when it comes to physical affection. If you haven’t talked about this in a while or ever, this may be a good time to ask your partner about their likes and dislikes and to think about yours as well.
Further Reading:
Gulledge, A. K., Gulledge, M. H., & Stahmann, R. F. (2003). Romantic physical affection types and relationship satisfaction. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 31, 233-242.
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February 26th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Great review! Glad you liked our research.
You might also be interested to know that Massages and Hugging were the most predictive of relationship satisfaction in our sample.
July 29th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
I was a virgin, when I was married the first time. Now, I feel that it was worth it; however, my ex didn’t have the same level of maturity as I did. This was hard. He didn’t learn, nor change, nor grow through-out the twelve year marriage!!!
Sex, should only occur in a marital relationship. I have met God-Almighty and He did create sex to be beautiful. However there are guidelines to follow!
This is definitely difficult to do now; in these days!!! Where are the humble, seeking God’s will kinds of people?? don’t we want ot repair the broken families, and damaged children?? I am glad to be a woman who has done her post-secondary education, with a secured position in the school system locally!!
Let’s get it together!! Stop pushing for sex!! Get married you idiots!!! Yes, Sex is great! But don’t take it unless you are prepared to give life-long commitement!
Anyone interested in pursuing a relationship with a twice head injured woman, who has met God-Almighty, should give me a call!! Thank you!