Karhu

In the initial stages chemistry is very important In later stages in a relationship communication is the most important thing. Education will naturally change someone’s mindset and so you have more in common to talk about, but that’s just one of the many topics that can be talked about, hobbies, dancing, spirituality, philosophies, technical things, etc. I think there is way too much emphasis on education/career, the key to a successful relationship is not how much money someone makes (as you see many unhappy wives with rich educated husbands that are never home and never have time for loving their wife). Happiness is a state of mind. Similar education is a minute aspect of compatibility as you might have one more thing to talk about. chemistry and communication are important. Education is only a small factor of compatibility and i definitely wouldn’t put it on some list of requirements about who you date.

that's a good question batya. has anyone found any hard research? any scientific studies? links or artcles? i think there is a lot more to this topic.

Personally I am against jealousy in a relationship, as that only breeds uncertainty, lack of trust, and hence creates barriers, breaks down communication and has a negative impact on the relationship. So In the past I’ve always fully trusted my girlfriends, and relied on them being faithful by focusing my attention on maintaining a strong healthy relationship. In the past my girlfriends have not reciprocated any advances and people cracking onto them hasn’t really been a problem. I’m very trusting so it’d probably be easy for someone to get away with cheating on me, I just hope that doesn’t happen. In the end I believe in trust in a relationship and trust that she’ll be faithful (am I naive?), the issue is that these persistent guys annoy her (and me) and the way I handle these situations will reflect on me.

I met a girl with a lot of potential two days before valentines day. this is good as if something does come out of it then it'd be easy to remember anniversaries.

WOW, what an amazing response! Thank you everyone who has posted, hopefully there will be many more posts as I find this a very intriguing topic, and it’s good to get a feel of how everyone sees it. This is obviously a nice and friendly forum. Yes, I think there are two factors, emotional compatibility and sexual compatibility. In the end I think you need both for a long lasting relationship. Yes, I think you have a point here, and in a way this probably makes it hard to really compare statistics, as what do you define as a relationship etc. Maybe I should have phrased it more as a question if this is the case.

I am just curious how fast people generally progress through the stages of dating into a more serious relationship. I think moving too fast through the stages nearly always ultimately leads to some fast hot times and then a instant fizzle. It seems like the time that you spend on the early stages is somehow proportional/related to how long the relationship lasts. Hormones can always be controlled if it means more chance of a life with the right person, encouraging slower relationship progress. A good balance should be struck to get the best long term prospective.