Many people may think that females are the first to utter
those three words in a relationship. The thinking may be that men are less in
tune with their emotions and less willing to say something that signifies some
level of commitment.

The reality is that men are more likely to confess their
love earlier than their female partner is. Part of the timing is related to
whether or not the couple has had sex, according to a study published in the
June issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Men are first to say “I love you” in two-thirds of couples.
Men are happier than women to hear “I love you” as early as month into the
relationship if they had not yet had sex, but women wanted to hear a profession
of love after the onset of sex.

This phenomenon may have its underpinnings in the
evolutionary patterns of relationships, in which men are looking for an
opportunity to spread their genes. Women tend to see a post-sex confession of
love as a signal of long-term commitment and security.

Men admit thinking about stating their love about six weeks
earlier than females do, particularly if the couple hasn’t started a sexual
relationship.

Researcher Josh Ackerman if MIT’s Sloan School of Management
summed up the study this way, “What love means to men and what love means to
women may be very different.”

Click here to read a brief summary of the article: http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/100/6/1079/