Being in a relationship requires a lot of work. While some take the effort, others often give up and rely on finding comfort in other aspects of their life. However, a new survey has made startling revelations, that not only lurk among us but showcase how Indians perceive relationships today.
The survey conducted by the app Gleeden across the country dived into the constantly changing status of relationships, focusing on how Gen Z, Millennials and Gen X individuals feel about love and marriage.
This is the third survey of its kind that has been conducted by IPSOS, on behalf of Gleeden and focuses on love, marriage, and infidelity trends among three generations who have deeply embedded India’s socio-cultural thinking in themselves.
The survey was conducted among 1,510 individuals, both men and women, who are aged between 18-60 years and living in 12 tier-1 Indian cities (Delhi, Jaipur, Ludhiana, Kolkata, Patna, Guwahati, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Indore, Bangalore, Hyderabad & Kochi), and tier-2 cities (Jaipur, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Gurugram, Indore, Noida, Surat, Nagpur, Bhubaneswar, Bhopal).
“Indians of all ages are beginning to challenge tradition and seek relationships that fit their changing emotional realities. As the conversations around love, intimacy, and loyalty are changing.” says Sybil Shiddell, country manager for the app in India.
The survey paints a detailed description of how Indians perceive relationships and the challenges these have to face in order stay healthy and happy, including infidelity, and how the different generations have been shifting opinion and mindsets over the past few years.
It revealed that 33 per cent of the total respondents feel that work-life balance and lack of quality time with family is a major challenge that leads them towards infidelity. The millennials (42 per cent) make up a major part of these respondents, who are interestingly also part of the current workforce, whereas Gen X (27 per cent) and Gen Z (31 per cent) respondents also provide major backing in this aspect.
Despite affirming to feel very happy and sexually satisfied in their current relationships, over half of the total respondents (51 per cent), say that they lack any emotional connection with their partners, whereas 42 per cent and 38 per cent respectively highlight that lack of excitement and thrill, and physical intimacy is why they are indulging in infidelity.
The Gen X (55 per cent) are the major voices who do not have any emotional connection with their partners, whereas 49 per cent of Gen Z say that they are not satisfied with the physical intimacy that they have currently. 54 per cent of Gen X respondents say that they frequently have thoughts of exploring connections beyond their relationships, with 44 per cent of Gen Z and 39 per cent of millennials having the same opinion.
Furthermore, the survey also reveals that both men (43 per cent) and women (42 per cent) have not stopped there and therefore engaged in either physical and emotional infidelity Out of them, Gen X (52 per cent) leads the charts in having been part of both emotional and physical infidelity, followed by Gen Z (41 per cent) and Millennials (36 per cent). The studies also reveal that 62 per cent of millennials are more receptive to understanding the reason behind infidelity before making any decisions, followed by Gen Z (50 per cent), instead of looking to end the relationship abruptly.
Additionally, the study shows that Indians today are more receptive towards using infidelity as a tool to stay emotionally fulfilled in a relationship. 58 per cent of the respondents say that they are open to infidelity if it helped them stay emotionally fulfilled, whereas 45 per cent are of the opinion that it could also reignite passion in stagnant marriages. Overall, a staggering 45 per cent believe that infidelity can sometimes save a relationship, out of which 47 per cent are married individuals. 50 per cent of Gen X respondents also reveal that humankind is not made for monogamy, with 41 per cent of the Gen Z and 37 per cent of Millennials sharing the same opinion. 63 per cent of Gen X and Millennials also reiterated that societal pressure forces people to stay monogamous, while 59 per cent of the GenZ share the same opinion.
But the most striking finding from this part of the research is that men and women share virtually identical views on the subject: 62 per cent of women and 61 per cent of men believe that humans are not wired for monogamy — a model ultimately imposed by centuries of ossified social norms. Overall, 61 per cent of the respondents agree on this aspect, highlighting societal pressure as a major decision-maker in Indians’ relationships.
Finally, 41 per cent of the respondents revealed that they are receptive to their partners suggesting an open relationship, while 35 per cent admitted that they are already part of one. 68 per cent of the respondents also pointed towards social media as the major enabler of infidelity, citing that it offers more opportunities. 64 per cent of the respondents also admitted that they flirt on social media platforms despite being in a relationship, out of which 49 per cent of the Gen X respondents say that they do it frequently.
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