Two out of three men think women should help pay for a date, although most feel guilty about accepting their money, a US study suggests.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Of the 64 per cent wanting to split the bill, 44 per cent said they would even ditch a love interest who never doled out any dollars. That said, 76 per cent of men felt bad about pocketing payments from possible partners.
The findings are based on research led by psychologist David Frederick of Chapman University in California. He oversaw a team that combed through data from more than 17,000 people to see how changing gender norms have had an impact on time-honoured notions of courtship.
Eighty-four per cent of men and 58 per cent of women reported that men pay for most dating expenses, even after they have been going steady for a while. Fifty-seven per cent of women said they had offered to pay for a date - although 39 per cent confessed they hoped the man would reject their offer to chip in.
In any event, over time, the vast majority of participants, both male and female, said they shared dating expenses in the first six months of seeing someone exclusively.
AFP
