men vs women on break-ups.

 Women Are Hurt More by Breakups, But…they bounce back quicker than males

– Ladies, we have good and bad news on the breakup

front. The good news: You'll probably get over the split faster than

your male ex. The bad news: You'll feel more pain in the meantime,

according to a new study published in Evolutionary Behavioral

Sciences . Researchers asked 5,705 people in 96 countries to rate

the emotional and physical pain of a breakup on a scale of one

(what pain?) to 10 (agonizing pain) via an online survey. Women

reported greater pain emotionally—a 6.84 compared to 6.58 in

men—and physically—a 4.21 versus 3.75 in men. The differences

may seem small, but they're statistically significant, reports

Fusion. And there's an evolutionary explanation: "Women are

evolved to invest far more in a relationship than a man" since it

could result in pregnancy, says lead author Craig Morris in a press

release. They're "choosier about selecting a high-quality mate" so

a loss hurts more.

Men may feel the breakup less at first, but Morris says "the man

will likely feel the loss deeply," perhaps for months or years, "as it

'sinks in' that he must 'start competing' all over again to replace

what he has lost—or worse still, come to the realization that the

loss is irreplaceable." Here, women have the advantage. When

they realize it's time to move on, they "recover faster and more

fully," Morris says, per the Courier Mail . And recover we all must,

according to Morris, a professor at Binghamton University in New

York: He says the average person goes through three breakups

before he or she hits 30, at least one of which is painful enough

that it lowers his or her quality of life for weeks or months. The

study authors note that lack of communication "was the most

prevalent breakup cause" and that women were more likely to

initiate the breakup. (It turns out you can die of a broken heart .)