British men love football twice as much as their women: study
Posted on Sunday, March 26, 2006 (EST)
British men show far more loyalty, commitment and self-sacrifice towards their favourite football team than towards their partners, a study showed.
English football fans in London
© AFP/File Alessandro Abbonizio
LONDON (AFP) - Some 94 percent said they would never stop loving their team no matter how bad they were while 52 percent would gladly ditch a relationship that was not going well, the survey of approximately 2,000 men across Britain found.
Psychologist Aric Sigman said: "If men showed the same fidelity, commitment, self-sacrifice and honesty toward their partners, the divorce rate would halve overnight.
"In an age where politicians' loyalties are seen as chameleonic, where jobs and relationships come and go, loyalty is now reserved for something men feel they can actually believe in: football.
"Perhaps this undying loyalty for a football team shows how qualities such as integrity and devotion are at a premium nowadays."
A quarter of men admitted they would miss a family funeral to watch a game.
The research also discovered that a majority of Englishmen surveyed (59 percent) said football gave them a sense of national pride, while a majority of Scotsmen (55 percent) said it gave them a sense of national embarrassment.
The study also found that football provided a way for men to show emotion.
Nearly two-fifths (39 percent) admitted they had cried tears of joy or despair over football, whilst almost a third (32 percent) said it had been crucial in teaching them to bond with other men.
Pollsters TNS Global conducted the research for football World Cup sponsor Duracell.
Eric
