If you thought that heterosexual couples (or even lesbian pairs) have a longer relationship shelf life than gay men, think again because a new study from The Williams Institute at UCLA has some evidence to prove otherwise.
The study followed 500 Vermont couples, including gay, lesbian, and heterosexual relationships, over the course of 12 years from 2002 to 2014, and learned that homosexual men are the least likely to break up among the group. Interestingly enough, lesbian couples were twice as likely to call it quits and one-and-a-half as likely as heterosexual pairs. When it came to looking at all couple types, each year of a relationship length reduced the odds of breaking up by 9%.
"Other studies on heterosexual couples have found that women have higher standards for relationship quality than men," author Esther Rothblum noted in a press release. "We suspect that similar dynamics may be at play with the lesbian couples in our study, leading to the higher dissolution rate."
Granted, for all groups, lower income and whether or not couples had children did not affect the odds of a relationship ending. It is worth noting that Vermont became the first state to extend all of the rights and benefits of marriage to same-sex couples through a civil union law.
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