Alex Dalland
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s recent separation comes as no surprise to experts at dating website eHarmony, who say more couples end things in Spring than any other season, Alex Dalland writes.
A recent survey by eHarmony suggests that couples like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and Taylor Swift and actor Tom Hiddleston are among the majority of separated couples who end their relationship in Spring, with the season hosting 29 per cent of overall break-ups.
“Spring is the time of rebirth and where the urge to purge can be strong. While we’ve always associated this with ‘spring cleaning’ our home, the fact we can do this with our relationships may come as a surprise,” Jacqui Manning, eHarmony psychologist and relationship expert says.
“Spring is when we look ahead at what is going right and what is going wrong, so it can highlight the problems in our relationships, and it’s also the time of year when we feel like getting out and socialising more, after being cooped up through the winter months.
“The positive upshot is that there is a bigger pool of single people out there, particularly on sites like eHarmony which experiences a surge in registrations in the months leading up to summer,” she says.
In fact, eHarmony has put together a ‘dating calendar’ suggesting that relationship stages fluctuate between seasons, with most break-ups occurring through Spring and describing Autumn as “cuffing season” when relationships are most likely to get serious. At opposite sides of the spectrum, Summer was most picked as the ideal dating season, while Winter was the favourite season for “settling into relationships.”
When surveyed, daters suggested they preferred dating in Summer because “It’s easier to participate in outdoor activities” (51 per cent), “People are more sociable” (48 per cent) and “The warmer weather is more fun” (46 per cent).
