What Can Valentine’s Day Reveal About Your Love?

Source: Monika Stawowy / Pixabay

In a study entitled ‘Will Stock Rise on Valentine’s Day?’, researchers from the Chinese University of Hong Kong found stock returns in China are 72.61% higher during the period three days before Valentine’s Day and including that day. The US has the second highest ‘Valentine Day Effect’ returns (19.42%), followed by a country known for its romance, France (18.86%), and then the UK (14.03%).

Yet Germany and Japan do not show significantly higher stock markets when Valentine’s Day is coming. The authors argue that in Japan and Germany, Valentine’s Day is not as big of a deal as in the other countries investigated.

That China’s stock market ‘Valentine Effect’ is distinctly greater than other stock markets, these authors argue, may be because this stock market is more dominated by individual investors, not large institutions. Individuals are generally more irrational traders, and compared with institutional investors are more easily affected by ‘high spirits’ and ‘holiday euphoria’.

That something strong and deep stirs on Valentine’s Day is further supported by other research which finds that rates of attempted suicide in young people may go up on that day specifically, and also another study found that already weak romantic relationships are nearly five times more likely to break up during the two weeks around Valentine’s Day than other weeks during the calendar year.

But whether Valentine’s Day has a positive or negative effect on your life and your relationships turns on the kind of connection you already have, according to a study conducted by psychologists at the University of Michigan.

The nature of your attachment is shaped by avoidance and anxiety.

Those with higher avoidance scores generally dislike intimacy, and are less likely to provide emotional support for romantic partners, while those with higher anxiety scores perform excessive reassurance-seeking and are hypervigilant to signs of rejection and abandonment.

When reminded of Valentine’s Day, avoidant individuals may be more likely to become negative about their relationship, as they start dwelling on their partner’s shortcomings. The avoidant also probably withdraw even more when their partners initiate positive interactions, which may be more likely on Valentine’s Day.

This study indeed found lower levels of satisfaction and investment were reported by individuals higher in attachment avoidance when reminded about their relationship on Valentine’s Day.

But Valentine’s Day was not bad for relationships if people scored high on a more anxious attachment. The authors of the study speculate that for some anxious individuals, Valentine’s Day might provide an opportunity to satisfy the desire to become closer to their partner, enhancing the relationship.

That there are several distinct kinds of love is also possibly revealed by another study which analysed all the tweets in English during the two weeks before February 14^th, identifying the most commonly recurring words and topics related to Valentine’s Day.

The analysis of the associations among words mathematically identified distinct “word clusters” suggesting the presence of common underlying themes.

Most of the “material” components, such as “gift” and “shop” group together; while words pertaining to the “celebrative” aspect of Valentine’s Day (“romantic”, “dinner”, “night”) are in a separate cluster. Word associations pertaining to sex are similarly grouped: among these groups, there are distinct word clusters for traditional gifts (“buy”, “chocolate”, flowers”), another for “preparations” for the evening (“sexy”, “lingerie”, “romantic”, “love”, “playlist”) and another for more vulgar, slang words pertaining to the physical part of the sexual act.

These distinct clusters might suggest that Valentine’s Day and love mean contrasting things to different people.

Differences between men and women on this point emerged in another study which found that men and women’s generalized depression was greater for those not receiving a gift relative to those who did receive a Valentine’s Day gift. However, while men rebounded after two weeks, women’s greater depression continued after three weeks.

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The authors of the Twitter study of Valentine’s Day, entitled, ‘The Social Aspects of Sexual Health: A Twitter-Based Analysis Of Valentine’s Day Perception’, point out that the nature of the celebration of Valentine’s Day has changed considerably across the ages.

They contend that in the 17th century, “Valentine lotteries” took place on February 13th: Participants drew the name of their Valentine (usually from a hat) in order, apparently, to write short poems for each letter of the person’s name. Such poems were then pinned to hats and clothes as to make a show of them.

At the end of the 18th century, according to these authors, new printing techniques allowed Valentine cards to be widely sold commercially, and a new market sprung up, yet hand-made cards were, often considered more “romantic” than those printed by a machine.

Through history we can see the tension between the commercialisation of love and the romantic sensibility.

If you go right back to the initial reasons for celebrating love on this day, the authors contend that these remain contentious and unclear. St. Valentine, a clergyman from Rome or nearby was apparently beheaded because it is claimed (though this is disputed) he was illegally marrying Christians (hence the link with romance), in 269 AD, on February 14^th, a date and time possibly associated with the ancient roman feast of the Lupercalia, a rite connected with fertility.

Even if the founding myth of St Valentine is not true, the story captures the essence of the romantic sensibility, which is that no matter how difficult, how crazy, how many ups and downs, how depressing, how stressful, and how statistically unlikely it is to really last, love is precious, and remains worth celebrating.