Canadians And Their Partners: Cheating, Fighting, And Forgiving
Canadians have a few ways of knowing when a current or past partner has been, or are angry with them. Half (51%) of Canadians say when he/she "gives them the silent treatment," one-quarter (26%) say when he/she "makes snide remarks," one in ten (12%) say when he/she "slams doors," and a similar proportion (9%) gets the hint when their partner "refrains from intimacy." One in six (17%) rely on other methods of knowing when their partner is angry with them, and 4% "don't know" how to tell when their partner is angry with them.
And when it comes to making up after the anger? Three in ten (28%) Canadians say they would "make their partner breakfast or dinner" if they were in a fight, one in six (17%) would "buy their partner a gift," a similar proportion (16%) would "become intimate," and one in ten (11%) would "grovel." One-third (34%) of Canadians would not make it up to their partner, or do so in some other way, and 5% "don't know" how they would make it up to them.
These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid/Alliance Atlantis poll conducted between January 27th and January 29th 2004. The telephone survey is based on a randomly selected sample of 1056 adult Canadians. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 2001 Census data.
Three in ten (29%) Canadians have been cheated on by a current or past partner, two in three (67%) have not, and 4% "don't know."
- Residents of Quebec (77%) are the most likely to say they have not been cheated on by their partner, followed by residents of Ontario (65%), Saskatchewan/Manitoba (64%), Atlantic Canada (63%), British Columbia (62%), and Alberta (60%).
- Canadians 18-34 (35%) are more likely than their elders (26%) to say they have been cheated on by a partner.
- Canadians currently not in a relationship (37%) are more likely than those currently in a relationship (26%) to say they have been cheated on by a partner.
- Canadians between the ages of 18 and 54 (93%) are more likely than their elders (86%) to consider "an intimate physical encounter" cheating.
- Canadians with some post-secondary education or a University degree (93%) are more likely than those with a high school diploma or less (86%) to consider "an intimate physical encounter" cheating.
- Residents of Quebec (61%) are the least likely to consider "a secret dinner date" cheating followed by residents of British Columbia (68%), Alberta (68%), Ontario (70%), Saskatchewan/Manitoba (72%), and Atlantic Canada (78%).
- Canadians 18-34 (74%) are more likely than their elders (65%) to consider "a secret dinner date" cheating.
- Women (71%) are nominally more likely than men (65%) to consider "a secret dinner date" cheating.
- Residents of Quebec (43%) are the least likely to consider "a kiss" cheating followed by residents of Ontario (51%), Saskatchewan/Manitoba (52%), British Columbia (53%), Atlantic Canada (58%), and Alberta (59%).
- 18-34 year olds (71%) are the most likely to think "a kiss" is cheating, followed by those 35-54 years of age (48%), and those 55 and older (35%).
- Women (58%) are more likely than men (43%) to consider "a kiss" cheating.
- Canadians currently in a relationship (53%) are nominally more likely than those not in a relationship (45%) to consider "a kiss" cheating.
- Residents of Quebec (38%) are the least likely to consider "an online/internet flirtation" cheating, followed by residents of Ontario (45%), Saskatchewan/Manitoba (45%), British Columbia (46%), Alberta (48%), and Atlantic Canada (52%).
- Canadians 35 years of age and older (47%) are nominally more likely than young adults (39%) to consider "an online/internet flirtation" cheating.
- Women (50%) are more likely than men (38%) to consider "an online/internet flirtation" cheating.
- Residents of Atlantic Canada (29%) are the least likely to forgive their spouse or partner if they were to cheat, followed by residents of Quebec (42%), Alberta (47%), Ontario (50%), British Columbia (50%), and Saskatchewan/Manitoba (52%). Residents of Atlantic Canada are the most likely to say they "don't know" (22%).
- Canadians 35 years of age and older (50%) are nominally more likely than young adults (40%) to forgive their spouse or partner if they were to cheat.
- Men (52%) are more likely than women (41%) to forgive.
- Canadians 18-54 years of age are more likely than their elders to know their partner is angry with them when he/she gives them the silent treatment (54% vs. 45%) or makes snide remarks (29% vs. 20%); while Canadians 55 and older are more likely to rely on other methods of knowing when their partner is angry with them (26% vs. 14%).
- Men (12%) are more likely than women (7%) to know their partner is angry when they refrain from intimacy.
- Canadians 18-34 are more likely than their elders to make their partner breakfast or dinner (36% vs. 26%) or buy them a gift (24% vs. 15%), while older adults are more likely to do nothing or something else (40% vs. 21%).
- Women (33%) are more likely than men (24%) to make breakfast or dinner, while men are more likely to buy a gift (23% vs. 12%) or grovel (14% vs. 9%).
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For more information on this news release, please contact:
John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900
