When are singles most willing to get married?

Single people feel that they are most ready to get married after they have gone through seven to nine relationships, showed research by the Seoul National University and a wedding consulting firm.

According to the survey conducted on 975 singles in their 20s and 30s, those who had dated seven to nine people in the past showed most positive responses to marriage - 59 points out of 100.

The group of those having dated 10 or more followed with 58 points, the four to six group with 56 points and the one to three group with 55 points, showed the survey.

The average points of those who have never dated was a mere 46.

Some agree that the number, frequency, or depth of past relationships reflects the person`s commitment to, namely, marriage.

"Relationship experiences may not be all that counts in a marriage, but does matter," said a 28-year-old man who asked to be identified by his surname Park.



"The very reason that I have never been in a relationship is, I think, because women have never been the priority in my life, and without changing this part, I just cannot imagine myself involved in married life."

Others emphasize the degree of insight provided by sufficient relationship experiences.

"Considering the very low odds of meeting a lifetime soul mate, a person would naturally need more than just a few options to consider and choose from," said Chung Na-young, a 30-year-old married woman.

"I would not have considered marrying my husband, had I met him at a younger age when I had been through so few relationships." It takes a certain degree of experience for people to truly see through the gist of relationships, especially when it comes to married life, she said.

Some also pointed out that single people these days are eager to have more options than they did in the past, when an abundance of relationships was considered to be a flaw.

Also, the more the respondents were satisfied with their life and that of their parents, the more positive they tended to be about the idea of marriage, according to the survey.

They were also affected by whether their potential marriage partner had been divorced in the past. Men were more willing to marry a divorcee.

The survey also displayed the different views of both genders regarding sexual relationships.

The appropriate time to have sex for the first time was within a month from the first date for 32, and for 23 percent, three months, showed the report.

Most women, however, were more cautious about physical intimacy and answered that the right timing was after deciding to marry or at least after six months since officially starting the relationship.

"Though Korean people have opened up about sex issues, women still tend to care more cautions, especially when it involves marriage," said an official of Duo, the wedding consulting firm which co-led the survey.

"The sexual conservativeness, for women, is yet considered a virtue."

(tellme@heraldm.com

By Bae Hyun-jung