Did you know that men experience breakup regret more often than women?
According to the research of Craig Eric Morris, an anthropologist who studied grief over relationship dissolution, there is a significant difference between how men and women experience life after breakups. Morris found that women tend to move on quicker as he tells Vice that “Women reported they spoke with friends and family and clergy […] Many will say, ‘It was a long time ago’, and ‘Here’s what I learned from it’.” In fact, the anthropologist explained that ‘Women never say, ‘That was the greatest guy of my life [and] I’ve never made peace with it’. Men, on the other hand, tend to experience much deeper regret as Morris claimed that “Not one guy said, ‘I’m over it. I’m a better person for it’.” In addition to this, many even said that an ex-partner had been the ‘best they ever had’.
Eight men have spoken to Men’s Health and shared their regrets:
1. Vance: “I realized that I failed to communicate openly and honestly about my true feelings for her and the situation we were in.”
2. Adam: “I remember being in London, traveling alone after a break-up. As I was walking through all that history, I kept wishing I had someone to share it with. The only person I wanted to be with in that moment was the girl I just dumped.”
3. Robert: “The moment of my regret … was when she turned her back to walk away from me, in tears. At that moment I realized my mistake.”
4. Doug: “I realized I really couldn’t do that much better, because she was great and I didn’t appreciate her enough.”
5. Mark: “Didn’t give the relationship a chance to actually work and looking back I think it would’ve because we had a lot in common and always liked being with each other. Shouldn’t have written it off.”
6. Damian: “I knew she had moved on, and that is when I started to really regret what I did because I was the one who wouldn’t commit to her when she was ready and great.”
7. Miles: “I miss the way my ex used to touch my hair and just curl up next to me. She would always want to touch me and be affectionate, and my new girlfriend doesn’t do that.”
8. Rick: “All the girls I had dated since my ex didn’t get my sense of humor like she did …”
Do not push her away because she might not come back.
In many cases, it is the man who does not realize what he has; as a result, he is the one who ends up with gut-wrenching, lifelong regret. In order to save yourself pain, do not take the woman in front of you for granted. Appreciate her while you have her and do everything you can to ensure that you do not end up feeling the regret that so many men did because they pushed away a special woman.
