Why know your Relationship Quotient? - Survey

New Study on Relationships reveals most Indians want to use a Scientific Compatibility Test

The research team at GreenThumbs recently conducted a nationwide survey in collaboration with Psyft.com, an online survey and assessments portal. The focus was on romantic relationships & compatibility between partners. Participants ranked 33 parameters on a scale of 0 to 10. The survey covered both men and women in age group of 18 - 60 years.

Personality traits that really matter in relationships

Trustworthiness, Positive outlook towards life and Humility emerged as the top three qualities that people look for in their partners, with 52% of respondents giving top marks to Trustworthiness. 43.6% gave top marks to Positive Outlook and 36.6% to Humility.

Top Compatibility Factors

Attitude towards sharing responsibility emerges as the top compatibility factor with 50% of the participants scoring it 9 or above. Conflict Resolution Style (48%) and Financial Choices (36.5%) rank 2nd and 3rd respectively, across gender & age groups. Religiosity i.e the importance given to religion in everyday life is the least important factor for majority of participants.

Men give priority to strong family values - 45% of male participants gave top marks to Family Values, but for females this quality does not figure even in the top 5, only 23.6% gave it the top score.

What women want - more sex, more freedom, no kids - Sex Drive i.e. the desire for intimacy in a partner was consistently ranked higher by the female population than the males and this pattern becomes more pronounced as age increases. Meanwhile, Desire for raising family seems to be falling out of favor, with both males and females ranking it low. The trend can be seen across age groups. Also, Open Mindedness is among the top 5 qualities women value in a partner, while for men, it is less of a concern. Being Romantic is (predictably) valued more by females than the males.

Real Beauty is not just skin deep - Surprisingly, Physical Attractiveness was consistently ranked the lowest by both men and women. This a heartening trend in a society that seems obsessed with "fair & lovely". Current Financial Situation & Selflessness were the next two lowest ranked qualities. Ironically, Intelligence and Intellectual Stimulation also do not seem to be very important qualities.

Health is the real wealth - Age related data cuts revealed that Health and Vitality gains importance as we go up the age ladder. In the age group of 18-25 year olds only 14% give top marks to their partner’s Health, in comparison the percentage goes up to 36% for 26-40 year olds and further up to 42% for the 40+ age group.

Nearly 80% people want a Compatibility Test with their partner

To wrap up, a whopping 80% of the participants feel the need for a reliable, scientific compatibility test. This shows people today realize the importance of relationships in determining the quality of life and don’t want to leave their choice of partner to chance.

Conclusion

To put the survey findings in a nutshell, the ideal partner for most people is someone who is loyal, happy and respectful. For men, their partner’s ability to function well in a family unit is paramount, while women place greater value on positivity and a caring attitude.

Dr. Neha Manchanda, who led the survey team, makes some interesting revelations around two important factors – Finances and Communication.

“We found some really interesting revelations - People don't seem to attach much value to their partner's Current Financial Situation as a quality, but they overwhelmingly rank Financial Choices among the top compatibility factors. Put simply, it means people are not bothered by how rich/poor someone is at the time of getting together, but once they are in a relationship it becomes vital that both partners have similar financial choices vis a vis saving, spending habits etc.

We can see a similar pattern with communication. Communication skills (the personality trait), is ranked relatively lower by the respondents, but Communication Style (as a compatibility factor) has been ranked higher by people. You can say people don’t attach much value to how skilled a communicator their partner is, as long their partner’s communication style matches their own.”

The age group of 51-55 years is an interesting micro-population. This is the only group that considers Family Preference - joint vs nuclear among the top 3 compatibility factors. Commenting on this Dr. Manchanda says one reason could be that this is the age group which has children of marriageable age and are likely to be affected by their children’s choice of partner in the near future.

Sample size of the survey was 3154 respondents, it covered both men and women in the ratio Female 58.3% ; Male 41.7%.