‘Heartbroken’ men take 4 weeks longer than women to change Facebook status

London -  Women may immediately change their Facebook status after a break-up, but it is much harder for heartbroken men who take four weeks to change their profile from ‘In a Relationship’ to ‘Single,’ according to a new study.

The majority of men - 63 per cent ‘prolong the misery’ of updating their profile from ‘In a Relationship’ to ‘Single’ for a month or more, eight per cent fail to do so at all.

If and when they do, only a third admits if they were dumped - and even fewer - 15 per cent - reveal the reasons why.

Women, on the other hand, tend to go public within a few days, often with a new description and photograph to reflect their ‘happy single’ status.

The study by new dating site ALovingSpace.com was based on a survey of 1,000 unmarried 18-65 year-old male and female members across the UK.

It found that male respondents generally coped with splits far worse than women, and were more likely to bottle-up their emotions and ‘present a tougher front’ to friends.

Almost 20 per cent of female respondents, on the other hand, admitted they had or would change their social media profiles immediately - often in order to hurt or humiliate their ex-partners.

A spokesman for ALovingSpace.com said he was ‘not surprised’ by the results, which appear to overturn the widespread assumption that women are more vulnerable after a break-up.

“On the face of it, men are the tough talkers and the ones who present a tougher front but that is just societal conditioning,” the Daily Mail quoted the spokesman as saying.

“Behind the facade they hurt just like women, but because they suppress their emotions it ends up hurting even more.

“Our research appears to suggest that men are hit the hardest by relationship break-ups and, as a result, prolong the misery of telling the world about it on social media platforms such as Facebook.

“Women, on the other hand, seem to see things in a more positive light, viewing a break-up as an opportunity to move on and find someone who they are more compatible with,” he said.