Love at First Sight? 56% of Americans Believe
Most Americans believe in love at first sight, have never read their partner’s email and think good sex is very important to a successful relationship, a poll released on Wednesday showed.
They also cited a partner’s TV choices as the most annoying source of strife – more than household chores, bedside reading or cleaning the bathroom.
“Fifty-six percent of Americans believe in love at first sight, and the percentage is even higher for married people and those in relationships,” according to CBS.com, which conducted the 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair poll.
The survey of 1,100 adults about love, marriage and relationships also revealed that only 17 percent have peeked into their other-half’s email, and just six percent do not think a healthy sex life is essential for a lasting union.
Despite the old jokes, nearly three-quarters of Americans have no problem getting along with their in-laws, but the number dropped to 62 percent for couples living together. The majority said they get along well with their significant other’s family.
Just six percent said “they like me, but I don’t like them.”
When a married man fails to wear his wedding ring, nearly a third of Americans perceived the move as a desire to appear single, while 11 percent are less suspicious and think he just forgot to put it on.
“Although wedding rings can be an important symbol of love and fidelity, actions always speak louder,” the Web site added.
When asked which marriage vow is the hardest to keep, 26 percent said “to be faithful,” only slightly less than the 28 percent who named “for better or for worse.”
And while proposing on bended knee may seem old fashioned to some, 45 percent of Americans think asking a father for his daughter’s hand in marriage is a necessary courtesy, compared to less than five percent who found it sexist and offensive.
Americans also showed conservative leanings in frowning on open relationships, with nearly 50 percent considering them a mistake and 25 percent a sin. Only seven percent thought such relationships were a “godsend.”
“It seems that some vestiges of America’s puritanical heritage remain with us,” noted CBS.com.
The telephone poll was conducted from Nov. 16-19 and had a margin of error of plus or minus three percent.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
