Gaby
According to a study conducted at Wrocław University, the capital of love should not be Paris, but Budapest. Consequently, the country where couples love the most intensely is Hungary. Malaysia and Portugal ranked second and third, respectively.
Researchers noted a positive correlation between the happiness of lovers and the level of development in their country, as reported by the Daily Mail.
How Researchers Came to Their Conclusions
The researchers surveyed about 9,500 volunteers from 45 countries around the world regarding their satisfaction with romantic relationships.
The team was interested in identifying where the happiest couples live and whether cultural, environmental, and other factors influence relationship satisfaction.
As the scientists ultimately wrote in their report for Scientific Reports, the results confirmed the hypothesis that modernization processes can impact romantic experiences.
Participants from a large cohort who were in relationships and lived on six continents were asked to respond to 32 questions. These questions addressed three components of love: physical intimacy, emotional connection, and commitment. Volunteers rated their relationships on a scale from one to nine.
Hungary topped the list with an average “love rating” of 7.94, followed closely by Malaysia and Portugal, both at 7.88.
The researchers compared the responses with the levels of modernization, gender equality, and collectivism in each country. To do this, the team utilized the World Modernization Index (WMI) and the Human Development Index (HDI), which indicate the development status of a given nation.
The WMI reflects levels of poverty, health, infrastructure, and economy, while the HDI shows life expectancy, education, income, and health of the population. Ultimately, the scientists discovered a connection between both indices, levels of gender equality, collectivism, and happiness in love.
Thus, in countries with the highest WMI, HDI, and gender equality, the happiest couples resided, particularly regarding intimacy.
The team noted that couples in countries with higher WMI typically postpone having children until later, which may also have influenced the final results.
Researchers also pointed out that couples living in warmer climates tend to be happier. The same applies to romantic pairs from collectivist-oriented countries. As the researchers noted, residents of nations with developed collectivist values are generally more altruistic toward their partners. This, naturally, can lead to closer and stronger bonds between lovers.
Here’s what the top ten list looks like.
Top 10 Countries for Love
- Hungary
- Malaysia
- Portugal
- USA
- Italy
- Slovenia
- Mexico
- India
- Australia
- Poland
Another recent study showed that ideal couples biologically synchronize and have the same level of sweating just two minutes into a date.
