Almost 64 per cent men believe that women should pay their share on a date, even though majority of males feel guilty accepting money from a lady, a new study has found.
Most men feel strongly that women should split the bill on a date. Nearly half of men (44 per cent) said they would stop dating a woman who never shells out any money. Over half (57 per cent) of women claim they offer to help pay, but many women (39 per cent) confessed they secretly hope men would reject their offers to pay.
Nearly 44 per cent of women were bothered when men expected women to help pay. The study by Chapman University’s David Frederick and colleagues from California State University and Wellesley College surveyed more than 17,000 participants. Researchers found that consistent with conventional norms, most men (84 per cent) and women (58 per cent) reported that men pay for most expenses, even after dating for a while.
A large majority of men (76 per cent), reported feeling guilty accepting women’s money.
In terms of behaviour, even if men are paying a larger proportion of expenses, 4 in 10 men and women agreed that dating expenses were at least partially shared within the first month. Around three-fourths (74 per cent of men, 83 per cent of women) reported some sharing of expenses by six months. The study was presented at the 108th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association in New York.