Millions of people are under the impression that the holiday season is going to be horrible if you don’t have a significant other to spend it with. Instead of watching a marathon of Orange is the New Black on Netflix, gorging yourself on sweets and left over pies and cakes, while drowning your sorrow in the last bit of scotch, you should pamper yourself. Change your hair style, get a new outfit, and even accept those invitations for holiday parties.
If you’re one of those who refuses to spend Boxing Day by yourself, you’re in good company. Millions of people join online dating sites around this time. Why, according to studies, it has been proven that activity on any particular online dating site increases by a whopping 56%.
Less than half of the people surveyed on popular dating sites say that when the holidays roll around, they have a chance to take time to relax and focus on enhancing their lives. Many believe that this is the perfect opportunity to start looking for someone who they may want to spend New Year’s with.
Of course, people worry that they begin looking for love around this time just for that — they don’t want to be alone on the first of the year. Unfortunately, people tend to settle for any old person who shows interest, and that falls under the category of holiday fling syndrome, which many think is a bad thing.
Little do people know, relationships that begin during the holiday season are more likely to last. This is the time where people are focusing on “good will toward men” and they are more receptive to positivity. Not only that, but during the holidays, we are more prone to focus on what people can bring to the table, rather than what is on the surface. We look at things that make us compatible with others and we tend to make decisions that will affect us for the long run. If we look at our baser instincts, animals mate during the winter in order to secure the species can thrive once a new generation is born in the Spring. Have you ever wondered why there are so many more kids born in the summer months than the winter? Yeah… That’s why!
There was a study conducted at Florida State University. The researchers were able to prove that people are more likely to make romantic decisions in the winter, and these decisions are taken that much more seriously. They are going to consider the things the other person brings to the table and they evaluate if these qualities are what they really want. The colder weather helps the brain produce a love cocktail of neurotransmitters that tells us that, yes, this is the time for love and commitment.
So, if you look at it this way, when you are swamped with work, you aren’t going to be open to the possibility of falling in love. But because the holiday season grants us so many days off, we aren’t stressed out and we are actually receptive to the possibility of love.