The results are in: Aussies lead the way when it comes to contentment in relationships, but they’re not feeling that same kind of satisfaction when it comes to their sex life.
A new international study, based on surveys with over 5,000 couples in Australia, America and the UK revealed that 88% of Aussies are in happy relationships, ranking higher than the Brits at 83% and Americans at 82%.
This could be because our hearts are in the right places when we’re looking for a partner — Aussies value happiness (67%), emotional stability (53%) and intelligence (52%) above some of the more superficial traits like good looks (43%) or financial stability (28%).
Despite the fact that the best ways to show love include words of appreciation (71%) and physical touch (67%), we’re a little more tight-lipped when it comes to mental health and our sex life. Only 24% of Aussie respondents said they were comfortable talking openly about their sex life, whereas Americans were far more willing to go there (37%). What’s more, an alarming 21% of Aussies still don’t disclose their mental health issues to their life partner.
Relationship expert at eharmony, Megan Luscombe, says, “These matters are extremely important and should be talked about. We need to put aside embarrassment and shame and have the courage to be authentic about who we are and how our needs can be met.”
As for what we can do to show our partner just how much we appreciate them, words of appreciation, acts of service, physical touch, and quality time all rank above gift giving proving that love really doesn’t cost a thing.
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The New International Happiness index was conducted by Pure Profile on behalf of Soda Communications in January 2020, among a nationally representative sample of 2,001 Australian adults.(18+).
Unless otherwise stated, UK research was conducted by Opinium on behalf of Third City in February 2020, among a nationally representative sample of 2,003 UK adults (18+).
Unless otherwise stated, US research was conducted by harris interactive, on behalf of Ketchum in January 2020, among a nationally representative samples of 2,077 US adults (21+).
