Who pays for love?

060810 An Italian couple sits during lunch as Steve Black of Australia dives past their balcony in the lead up round four of the 2010 Red Bull Cliff Diving world series in Polignano a Mare August 5, 2010. Gary Hunt of England currently leads the six round series, with the fourth stop taking place this Sunday, August 8. REUTERS/Dean Treml/Red Bull Photofiles (ITALY - Tags: SPORT DIVING SOCIETY IMAGES OF THE DAY) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS

060810 An Italian couple sits during lunch as Steve Black of Australia dives past their balcony in the lead up round four of the 2010 Red Bull Cliff Diving world series in Polignano a Mare August 5, 2010. Gary Hunt of England currently leads the six round series, with the fourth stop taking place this Sunday, August 8. REUTERS/Dean Treml/Red Bull Photofiles (ITALY - Tags: SPORT DIVING SOCIETY IMAGES OF THE DAY) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS

Published Aug 12, 2013

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New York - Two out of three men think women should help pay for a date, although most feel guilty about accepting their money, a US study out on Saturday suggests.

Of the 64 percent wanting to split the bill, 44 percent said they'd even ditch a love interest who never doled out any dollars.

That said, 76 percent of men felt bad about pocketing payments from possible partners.

The findings are based on research led by psychologist David Frederick of Chapman University in California.

He oversaw a team that combed through data from more than 17 000 people to see how changing gender norms have impacted on time-honoured notions of courtship.

Eighty-four percent of men, and 58 percent of women, reported that men pay for most dating expenses, even after they've been going steady for a while.

Fifty-seven percent of women claimed they had offered to pay for a date - although 39 percent confessed they hoped the man would reject their offer to chip in.

In any event, over time, the vast majority of participants, both male and female, said they shared dating expenses in the first six months of seeing someone exclusively.

Frederick, whose previous research has focused on body image, said the study was motivated by a desire “to understand why some gendered practices are more resistant to change than others.”

It was presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association that opened in New York Saturday and runs through to Tuesday. - Sapa-AFP

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