TLC the key to winning a loved one’s heart
But even as the research showed that money still can’t buy love, one-in-10 love-struck workers admitted to splashing out more than €100 on a Valentine’s gift.
The survey of more than 1,150 people from RecruitIreland.com showed spending money on flowers, champagne, chocolate and jewellery held little sway when it comes to impressing loved ones.
Asked what gift is best on Valentine’s Day, the majority of people said they would prefer TLC over champagne, chocolates, jewellery or champagne.
But the survey showed most Irish workers will spend €41-€100 on their partner this St Valentine’s Day.
Around 70% of people said the day was highly overrated, while 60% said romance was still soaring in Ireland. Some 71% of males believe romance is alive and well in Ireland, while 44% of women said it is long gone.
But one-in-four female workers said they would be giving gifts to colleagues on the day, compared with one-in-six males.
More than 82% of people said under no circumstances would they consider sending a work colleague a Valentine’s Day card.
But the survey revealed that more than 16% of those questioned had met their current partner through work.
Meanwhile, a ‘good sense of humour’ - or GSOH in the vernacular of lonely hearts adverts - really does make a man sexy, scientists revealed yesterday.
Researchers carried out tests which appear to prove that, for women, laughter is the best aphrodisiac. But the same was not true for men, who were no more attracted to funny women as those who were boring.
Previous studies have confirmed that men use humour competitively when chatting up women.
The new study set out to investigate the sexual power of humour in a controlled way.
Psychologists Eric Bressler and Sigal Balshine showed pictures of two men rated as equally physically attractive to 63 women. The test was repeated four times with different men, both rated physically attractive and unattractive, and statements.
Routinely, women preferred the “funny” man over the “serious” man.
But when men took part in a similar test, they were not impressed by women trying to be funny. Whether a woman made amusing or serious remarks made no difference to her desirability.
