True love ‘takes couples a year to achieve’

SCIENTISTS have poured water on the notion of love at first sight by claiming that it takes couples up to a year to achieve “true love”.

A team from Bath University found that consummate love, commonly known as true love, takes around 12 months to develop in the average relationship.

The scientists studied relationships on an online dating agency - Match.com - over a six-month period.

They found that consummate love was evident at around 12 months into a relationship.

Consummate love was described by the scientists as a balance of three components - passion, intimacy and commitment.

Of the 147 Match.com couples who took part in the study, 61% showed that their relationships had high levels of intimacy, passion and commitment.

Nearly all of the 61% had been in their relationship for 12 months or longer.

The study also found that men were more likely to find true love than women.

Some 67% of men, but just 57% of women, were experiencing consummate love.

Companionate love - a relationship with high levels of intimacy and commitment, but lower levels of passion - was the next most frequently experienced form of love, exhibited by 16% of the study group.

On average, those who experience companionate love were 11 months into their relationship.

The early stages of a relationship, or first sight stage, often reveals what the scientists call nonlove - indicating low levels of intimacy, passion and commitment.

Dr Jeff Gavin, who led the team, said: “Love is an important predictor of success, stability and relationship satisfaction.

“Love is a multi-faceted concept, but is viewed in our study as the combined feelings of intimacy, passion and commitment that one has for a partner.

“To date, there has been no systematic study of love in the context of relationships formed via online dating sites, but with the popularity of online dating, it is imperative that we understand the factors that influence satisfaction in relationships formed in this way.”

Charlotte Harper, British managing director of Match.com, said: “It supports our belief that the internet and email does in fact encourage old-fashioned courtship. This promotes a kind of romantic courtship that is all too infrequent when meeting potential partners on the bar scene.”