SWNYDISTANCE - By Tyler Schmall
New York office - 646-873-7565 / usnews@swns.com
Long-distance relationships have a 58 percent success rate, according to new research.
A new study of 1,000 Americans who have been in a long-distance relationship found that whether or not you and partner make it through the long-distance phase will come down to a coin flip.
The new survey, conducted by KIIROO, examined the burdens of keeping things fresh while far apart and whether respondents' relationships survived the long-distance- only six in ten actually do.
It also revealed that a good number of long-distance relationships actually begin long-distance, with the uptick in couples meeting online.
In fact, half of those surveyed said they met their partner online, with 27 percent saying they never actually lived close to their partner to begin with.
So, what qualifies as a long-distance relationship? According to the survey respondents, living at least 132 miles away from each other is the official qualifying factor.
The first few months of a long-distance relationship may be an optimistic time, but the study pinpointed the four-month mark as being the hardest part of the relationship.
But according to the data, if your long-distance relationship can survive the eight-month milestone, it gets a lot easier.
Being in a long-distance relationship means having to communicate with your partner electronically a lot more than usual.
According to the results, the average long-distance couple will send each other 343 texts every week and spend eight hours a week talking on the phone or video chatting.
But texting and calling doesn’t solve all the problems.
The survey showed that lack of physical intimacy was still the biggest challenge of endeavoring in long-distance travel (66 percent), with 31 percent saying they missed sex the most.
“As the world becomes more and more digitally connected and we see ourselves drifting further and further apart, the adoption of technology to forge new and better ways to communicate has become imminent,” said Toon Timmermans, CEO of KIIROO.
“We forge new relationships online more now, than ever before. From the results of this study, we see that technology in any shape or form is being used by long-distance relationships to feel closer, to feel loved and to attempt help ease sexual tensions that may arise due to the distance.”
While there are obviously many pitfalls to long-distance romance, the results showed that there were some surprising upsides as well.
For example, does living apart from your partner make you closer? According to the majority of respondents, it does.
Over half (55 percent) of Americans that have been in a long-distance relationship said that their time apart actually made them feel closer to their partner in the long run, while seven out of ten (69 percent) said that they actually talked to their partner more during their time apart.
Another 81 percent said that being in a long-distance relationship made real-life visits a lot more intimate than usual, due to the specialty of the occasion.
But one glaring conclusion that the survey seemed to point to was that advancements in technology have not only made long-distance relationships possible -- but even practical.
And while nothing will beat being physically close to your partner, 88 percent said technology helped them feel closer to their partner throughout their long-distance relationship.
“With the rise of interactive pleasure products, such as teledildonics and long-distance sex toys, we can help ease some of those worries.
"The results of this survey show that nearly half of the respondents would be interested in trying long-distance sex toys to help maintain physical intimacy,” said Toon Timmermans, CEO of KIIROO.
“By maintaining a physical connection, couples can help put some of those tensions to rest.
"At the same time, being physically intimate from a distance helps relationships learn more about their bodies and about each other.
"KIIROO provides the tools for couples to be physically intimate from any distance.”
TOP 8 CHALLENGES OF A LONG-DISTANCE RELATIONSHIP
Lack of physical intimacy 66%
Worried my partner would meet someone else 55%
Feel lonely 50%
Expensive to visit each other 45%
Growing apart 43%
Lack of communication 40%
Time difference 33%
Difference of opinion on mode of communication (call vs. text etc.) 24%
