Topics: Life, Real Life, Sex and Relationships, Advice
There's no doubt that the first few months of dating are integral in telling you everything you need to know about your potential life partner.
If you're still not quite convinced after three months together, however, there's a pretty handy hack being recommended by relationship experts that supposedly determines early on whether or not you're investing your time in the right person.
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In recent months, a social media 'fascination' has seemingly formed with regards to the alleged 'three month' relationship.
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For those of you who haven't been single for a which (lucky b*****s!), this TikTok trend says that this is the amount of time it should take to determine the status of your romance.
In fact, couple's therapist Linda Carroll previously said that this period of time should be viewed as 'probationary', with big decisions taken with much precaution.
"Go slow with making any big decisions. The merge can fog your vision and make you want to dive into situations that might not actually be wise or healthy for you in the long run."
With that approach in mind, another romance guru - Sami Wunder - says there's absolutely one rule that daters should always follow during this critical three month period to determine how serious your love interest is about you.
And lucky, there's only four words you need to remember: 'Do not have sex.'
Whilst Sami says it can often be tempting to hop into bed with someone you're falling head over heels for - especially if the sexual chemistry between the two of you has spent around 15 weeks rising - she says its integral to hold out as long as possible.
Speaking to Huffington Post, she explained the biology behind her belief: "Take at least three months to vet people but don’t sleep with them in this timeline.
"When you have sex, your body produces oxytocin, which is a powerful hormone, and can make it harder for you to spot red flags and see that your values don’t align."
So, basically, if they don't seem interested anymore after you haven't 'given it up' after three months, you're better off without them.
And apparently, this view seems to be the consensus of countless other dating professionals, including Dr Krishna Athal, who says that this period of time should also be used to explore other people, insisting there's no need to wholly commit all of yourself to one person.
"[Dating multiple people] allows you to explore your options and get to know different people with different interests and personalities," she wrote in the Times of India.
"This can be a great way to learn more about yourself and what you want in a partner."
And thankfully, according to statistics gathered by a recent YouGov study, this isn't too dissimilar to how many British singletons already date.
In fact, around a fifth of British singles reportedly believe it's important to wait at least one month before getting between the sheets with someone new.
Data also showed that the same percentage agreed that it was important to wait three months until telling someone you love them.
