Chick Flicks can Flick Fidelity

You've Got Mail,
Maid In Manhattan,
The Wedding Planner
Serendipity
Runaway Bride
Notting Hill and
While You Were Sleeping.

Are amongst the culprits Scottish researchers have found that place unrealistic expectations on real world relationships. Psychologists at the family and personal relationships laboratory at Edinburgh’s Heriot Watt University blames them along with another 34 Chick flick hits for promoting unrealistic expectations when it comes to love.

"The problem is that while most of us know that the idea of a perfect relationship is unrealistic, some of us are still more influenced by media portrayals than we realize," says Dr Bjarne Holmes.

"Films do capture the excitement of new relationships but they also wrongly suggest that trust and committed love exist from the moment people meet, whereas these are qualities that normally take years to develop," said researcher Kimberly Johnson.

See more at the BBC and at the researchers site.

This research has been expanded world wide with an online survey which, if you’re into surveys, can be found here.