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How often do you want to see your boyfriend or girlfriend? It’s a pretty important question for anyone in a relationship, and if each half of the couple’s expectations don’t match up, it can become a problem. Do you feel your girlfriend is too clingy when she asks to see you every night of the week? Or maybe you’re questioning if your boyfriend really likes you, since he doesn’t seem to want to spend that much time with you.

Market research company Cross Marketing conducted an online survey where they asked 300 Japanese men and women in their 20’s and 30’s “How often do you like to meet your boyfriend/girlfriend?”. The results were pretty interesting, and maybe not quite what you’d expect.

Check out the responses they got from the 150 male and 150 female respondents.

Male
Every day……24.0%
Every other day…8.0%
Every three days…16.0%
Once a week……40.0%
Once every two weeks…6.0%
Less than once every three months…4.6%

Although “once a week” was the most popular option, if we add together the responses for “every day”, “every other day”, and “every three days”, we can see that 48% of men can’t stand to be without their partner for more than three days in a row. Seems that the stereotype of girls being the clingy ones in the relationship doesn’t really hold true! Compare this with the female responses below.

Female
Every day…10.0%
Every other day…8.7%
Every three days……19.3%
Once a week……38.0%
Once every two weeks…10.0%
Less than once every three months…7.3%

The percentage of women who want to see their boyfriend every day is far lower than the other way around! And 7.3% would prefer to see their man less than once every three months.. hmm, are you sure you’re really dating?

Here are some of the reasons the men gave for their answers:

  • Once a week

“Now that I’m working, it’s easier to just meet on the weekend.” (age 29)

“I only get one day off a week, so if we were meeting twice a week, one time would have to be on a workday. But I don’t really have any time after work.” (age 24)

Seems like a lot of people went for “once a week” due to time constraints. It’s no secret that the Japanese work incredibly long hours, so it’s understandable that they wouldn’t have much time during the working week.

  • Every day

“If we’re dating then I think it’s normal to make time after work to go to each other’s places.” (age 31)

“If we’re not busy, then I like for us to get dinner together.” (aged 24)

Some people are pretty keen!

  • Every three days

“I think once during the week and once at the weekend is a realistic and do-able amount.” (aged 27)

“I like to go out on the weekends, and then when we meet during the week we just hang out at home. I think that’s a good schedule.” (aged 30)

Of course every couple is different, and people can definitely make compromises for the sake of their relationship. But however you look at them, these results seem to say that on the whole Japanese men prefer to see their girlfriends more often than their girlfriends like to see them. So how do the girls react when their boyfriend is wanting to see them every single day? I’m sure they’ve got some pretty good excuses lined up – What do you mean it’s not necessary to wash your hair every night?!

Source: YAHOO! Trend News
Image: Wikimedia Commons