By Carol Church, Writer, Family Album
Reviewed by Victor Harris, PhD, Department of Family, Youth, and Community Sciences, University of Florida
It’s almost Valentine’s Day, as you’ve surely noticed if you’ve gone shopping lately and found yourself surrounded by a sea of pink and red.Of course, your local florist is working hard to sell you something, too—which makes sense when you learn, as I recently did, that Valentine’s Day accounts for 40% of all holiday flower sales in the country. That’s a lot of red roses.
Flowers for V-Day, or Something Else?
When was the last time you got or gave a big bouquet (or even a single bloom) for Valentine’s Day? For me, I’m pretty sure it’s been quite a while. Part of that is surely because my husband knows that cut flowers aren’t really my favorite gift (not to mention the fact that our cat will inevitably eat them!) But could the choice to purchase—or not purchase—flowers for Valentine’s Day also say something about the nature of your relationship? One study suggests so.
This slightly quirky study was conducted in Taiwan by researchers who wanted to know more about people who buy (and don’t buy) flowers for their significant others on Valentine’s Day. Over 350 adults who had bought a Valentine’s day gift for their spouse or partner that year indicated what type of item they’d purchased (for instance, flowers, chocolates, clothing, jewelry, gift cards, or other items), and also answered a number of questions about their relationships.
How Do Flower-Buyers and Others Differ?
About two-thirds of the people in the study had, indeed bought flowers for this holiday, though many combined them with another gift. Another third had chosen other presents. So, how did the three groups differ from each other?
People who bought flowers and only flowers seemed to be past the early stages of a relationship, but perhaps not yet fully committed. They reported feeling deeply loved, understood, and supported by their partners.
As for those who bought flowers and another gift, these men and women seemed to be more in the “passion” stage of their relationship, reporting more romance, sexual attraction, and excitement.
Not Buying Flowers is Linked To…
So, what about those couples who didn’t bring home any flowers at all? You may be surprised—or not—to learn that overall high relationship satisfaction was linked to not purchasing a floral gift. In fact, the more satisfied people were with their relationships overall, the less likely they were to buy flowers! Instead, they tended to choose more practical or more expensive presents…perhaps, the researchers suggest, because they are invested in the partner and want to provide something useful or costly to him or her.
While we probably can’t read too much into this study, it’s fun to consider whether or not our choice of Valentine’s Day present says anything about the nature of our romance. Enjoy the holiday, and the roses that may or may not come with it.
(Photo credit: ROSES (au nom de la rose) 1136 views! by CHRIS230***. CC BY 2.0. Cropped.)
References:
Lai, Y-C., & Huang, L-C. (2013). The Effect of Relationship Characteristics on Buying Fresh Flowers as Romantic
Valentine’s Day Gifts. Hort Technology, 23(1), 28-37.
0
