LONDON, February 12 /PRNewswire/ --

- What Your Valentine's Gift Says About Your Relationship

A new survey has found that the average British person now spends
GBP37,328 on gifts throughout their lifetime - certainly more than the
average deposit on a house. In fact, GBP22.9 billion is spent on gifts each
year, with just under GBP1 billion being spent this Valentine's, yet over the
course of the year, more than half of all gifts received are considered
inappropriate by the recipient.

Of the 2,300 people surveyed by PARSHIP, Europe's largest
scientifically-based online dating service, just over one third, 35% of
people admitted donating unwanted gifts to charity shops, 31% leaving gifts
unused in cupboards, 10% reselling gifts on eBay and 12% simply throwing them
in the bin. Just over a quarter, 27% plan to recycle their wanted gifts and
Valentine's is no exception.

Why do we get it so wrong?

A quarter of men (26%) and one fifth of women (21%) who plan
to buy a gift, said that their purchase would be made in haste and that they
did not plan their shopping, instead buying on impulse. One third of women
(36%) and one fifth of men (22%) said they bought presents that they
themselves liked, not really thinking of the person they were buying for.
Regardless of their finances, 5% said it was easier to buy expensive
luxurious presents rather than putting in lots of effort and 5% bought
presents that they considered cheap.

On average, the British are impressed by just four in ten
(42%) of gifts they receive - 26% of gifts from work colleagues, 38% from
male friends, 52% from women friends and 37% of gifts received from
relatives. But when it comes to getting it right, there's hope this
Valentine's day as it's husbands and boyfriends who impress rather than
depress: six out of ten women (61%) said they loved every present their other
half had bought for them; the comparative figure for men was 56%.

"Not everyone gives a present on Valentine's Day. Lots of
people prefer to make anniversaries a special occasion, but even if people
don't buy into the concept of Valentine's Day completely, many people in a
relationship don't want to forget it all together," commented Dr Victoria
Lukats, psychiatrist and dating expert for Independentsingles.ie

Dr Lukats continued:"It's no surprise that gifts from partners
tend to be better received than those from friends or colleagues. In a
harmonious, long-term relationship, a partner might be expected to know a
person's likes and dislikes better than work colleagues. This survey also
found that women are slightly more likely to be satisfied than men with the
gift they receive from their partner. It could be that men are better at
choosing gifts or that women are better at saying what they want, or maybe
it's simply that women are more easily pleased and are likely to see the
sentiment behind a gift. Whilst few people would be shallow enough to end a
relationship over a disappointing gift, in some cases is could be the final
straw. A bad gift doesn't necessarily indicate that the person doesn't care,
however, if they used to choose romantic presents early in the relationship
and now think that an electric can opener is just the thing, then it could be
a sign that the spark is going."

About the survey

The PARSHIP Gift Satisfaction Index was conducted by YouGov
and questioned 2,353 adults over the age of 18 on their attitudes,
expenditure and habits towards gifts.

About Dr Victoria lukats

Dr Victoria Lukats MBBS MRCPsych MSc is a psychiatrist, agony aunt and
dating expert..

As well as working as a dating expert for PARSHIP, Dr Lukats is a
specialist registrar in psychiatry in the NHS

About PARSHIP

PARSHIP is Europe's largest dating service dedicated to people who want
to form a serious relationship. Founded in 2001, PARSHIP now has over 2.1
million active members and uses a unique scientific personality test, based
on over 40 years of scientific research, to match people who have both
similar and complementary personality traits - the requirements for a
harmonious relationship.