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Most couples, if not all, hit a roadblock at some point. No matter how caring or understanding you and your partner are, disagreements and misunderstandings are inevitable. Even the best relationships sometimes run into problems.
You’re both exhausted when you get home from work and every word exchanged is one too many. Or the children are not having their day, which puts strain on the relationship. Or one person’s unemployment gets on the nerves of another. We all know how it goes.
All these problems are not unique. Every relationship faces challenges and obstacles. But some of these typical relationship issues are more common than others. This is evident from new research from the Cypriot University of Nicosia and China’s Fudan University published in the journal Evolutionary Psychology .
Researchers from the two universities have investigated what the biggest relationship problems are in relationships. In an earlier study they already identified 78 relationship problems and built on them in this new study in which both Greeks and Chinese were interviewed. All 1,403 respondents were in a relationship at the time of the study and they were allowed to indicate what the biggest issues were for them.
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Three biggest issues
Anyone who thinks that jealousy , trust problems or poor communication are the biggest causes of relationship problems is wrong. According to the results, clinginess, long work hours and a lack of personal time and space are the biggest relationship issues. The research also revealed that while men were more likely to mention bad sex as a source of tension in the relationship, women were more likely to mention clinginess. And if the women do that, it is mainly about their own affection – not that of their partner.
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A lack of enthusiasm, bad sex, infidelity and children were mentioned more often by the older participants, while a lack of personal space and character problems were mentioned more often by younger participants. These proportions were virtually the same in both the Greek and Chinese groups of participants, suggesting that things are not very different in other countries.
The researchers note that their research is far from sufficient to understand the issues people face in relationships. It should therefore be considered one of the first steps in the right direction.
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