While 40% of people marry their first love, reunited or not, only 4% have a happy ending after reuniting. Additionally, 62% of couples who have reunited with their first loves believe that it led to a better relationship while 50% eventually break up again.
How long does the romantic phase last? Studies have estimated the euphoric stage can last anywhere from six months to two years. Although a small portion of the population (approximately 15% to 30%) say they are still in love and that it still feels like the first six months—even after 10 or 15 years later.
In fact, IllicitEncounters, a British dating site for married people, did a survey of a random pool of 1,000 people and found that 25 percent are still with their first love now. That means one out of four people are with the first person they fell in love with.
Another study, carried out by Illicit Encounters, reveals that a quarter of us are still with our first love, and that 41 percent of people enjoy the best sex of their lives with their first love. If correct, these numbers are quite high.
According to a study by a Cal State University professor, former sweethearts who meet up later in life, and are single, have a better than 70 percent chance of getting back together for good. So what is it about lost love that is so powerful?
Considering the way human brains work, it's more accurate to assume that first loves never die because the emotions with them are so strong. Strong emotions stick with us, good or bad, they never die, so to speak.
It's a question that has been asked for centuries, and now we have the statistics to back it up. From 40% of people marrying their first loves reunited or not, to only 2% of couples who break up and get back together making it in the end – these numbers tell us a lot about how our relationships can change over time.
First love influences all subsequent relationships
However, Davis emphasizes that first love is not necessarily the best or deepest love. The intensity of first love may distort one's perception, causing one to remember it as more significant than it truly was.
Those firsts can be intense and memorable. If these 'firsts' were positive, you may remember your first love with fondness, and consequently, find it harder to move on. On the other hand, if your experiences left a sour taste in your mouth, it is more likely you may find it easier to let go of that first love.
“Your first love is hard to forget because it leaves an 'imprint' on the sensory areas of your brain,” Bordelon says. “Memories during your adolescent years leave hormonal imprints at the same time as your neurological developments are forming your identity.”
For many men, this first love is also the first time they have been in the sort of relationship where they are asked to make a series of compromises. More accurately, it may be the first time they really wanted to make those compromises, because they valued the relationship.
They may continue to love and care deeply about their former partners, though those feelings are no longer tied up with wanting to continue dating. As long as you wholeheartedly accept that the relationship is over and are actively moving on with your life, you can still maintain a friendship with an ex you love.
Many of the people who return to old relationships are not just looking for a lost love. Sometimes they are really looking for the part of them who, at one time in their lives, were willing to risk loss for the joy of true connection.
Your second love is better because you've learned from your mistakes. From big to small stuff, your first relationship will have taught you what made you screwed up and you'll be able to realize what battles are worth fighting for.
And it seems it's especially common to reach this brink about three years in. It's called the three-year itch — a phenomenon where tensions rise and couples are forced to either part ways, or adapt. Make it or break it. Take stock of their partnership and decide whether it's what they want — or not.
A woman's (or girl's) first love is special because it's the first time she experienced the wonderfulness of intimacy (physical or emotional). It's the first relationship in which you believe in perfect love. Also, it feels emotionally intense and euphoric. So the memories are exceptionally safeguarded.
In a series of several studies, published together by the American Psychological Association in 2011, researchers found that in partnerships between a man and a woman, the man is more likely to “confess to love” first.
The truth is that it typically takes men longer to get over a breakup than women, Carol says: "It can take some men years—or even decades...if they truly loved her. They just don't show their grief to others—or even to themselves."
Multiple studies have confirmed our brains experience something very much like an addiction when we're in love. The first time may be the most important because it's the foundation. Most likely, you experienced this foundation of love during a time (adolescence) when your brain was still developing.
And it turns out that for most people it happens when they're quite young, with 55 percent of people saying they first fell in love between the ages of 15 and 18! Twenty percent of us then fall in love between the ages of 19 and 21, so around the time you're at university or working your first real job.
There is nothing wrong with a second-best, secondhand, or last love. Each of these loving relationships can be of great value. Thus, while a first love is unforgettable, a last love typically continues longer.
Again, this is a topic that isn't widely studied and reported on, but one source indicates that around 25% of females marry their first loves, who in some instances are their high school sweethearts.
Almost 50 percent of all marriages in the United States will end in divorce or separation. 7. Researchers estimate that 41 percent of all first marriages end in divorce. 8.
People Marrying Their 'Second Choice' Is More Common Than You Think. And in most cases, there's nothing wrong with it. Here's something few of us are brave enough to admit about long-term relationships: We don't always end up with our first choice. Sometimes, we settle for “second best” ― and usually, that's OK.