Every year at the beginning of winter, the dating sphere is on the rise – single men and women start actively looking for romantic partners. This phenomenon has even been dubbed “cuffing season”. But is there a scientific explanation for this?
The term comes from the English expression cuffing season and apparently relates to the idea of “binding oneself” or “shackling” someone for a period of dark and cold months.
The appeal, or at least the convenience, of this idea is easy to understand. It’s not a bad thing to have someone special to dance under the sparkling lights, or to experience the obligatory family reunions when a distant relative is sure to start asking you about your relationship.
It’s not known exactly where the term “cuffing season” came from. It’s assumed to have happened around 2009, when in happens – there’s no consensus.
If you look at people’s current sexual behaviour, “activity on porn and dating sites and even the services of sex workers peak twice a year – not just in winter, but also in summer,” says Ma-Callams.
One 2012 study found that Internet searches for sex-related terms had two distinct peaks in winter and summer.
Another study from the 1990s tried to find out if there were seasonal variations in sexual activity.
Researchers mapped births outside of marriage, abortions, sexually transmitted infections and condom sales and found that there was an increase in sexual activity (as well as unprotected sex) during the Christmas period.
However, more recent studies have shown that this trend has not continued. people are really interested in having an affair for the holidays,” says Justin Garcia, author of Intimate Animal and executive director of the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University, a research centre for sexuality and relationships. Garcia is also chief scientific advisor to the dating site Match.com.
“Online dating happens year-round, but you see a real increase in the winter months,” he confirms.
We can certainly theorise as to why this is happening. Perhaps stuck in our parents’ house, the only way to make new acquaintances is through our phones.
But we can also look to animals for an answer. Some species – not all – breed seasonally. Perhaps the same is laid down by human evolution?
Mating behaviour
Some species breed strictly according to the season, says Carter.
This is evidenced by the fact that babies are born at different times. While in the U.S. and other countries, fertility peaks in September, which corresponds to conception in winter, birth rates vary by place and time.
“People say this autumn peak is tied to Christmas and New Year’s,” says Randy Nelson, professor and chair of neuroscience research at West Virginia University.
Still, “no one has seen breeding outbreaks that can be attributed to a biological cause rather than a cultural or social cause,” Nelson says.
In some agricultural communities, fertility increases nine months after harvest. “Again, this is socially determined,” Nelson says.
Instead, Nelson says: People’s seasonality is expressed by biological functioning.
“We mostly live in caves in autumn and winter,” Nelson says. Most people don’t have the ability to go outside – they may get up in the dark, work under artificial light, and come home in the dark.
In order for our biological clock to optimise all biological functions, including hormone and neurotransmitter levels, we need bright light. But that never happens in winter,” he says.
Maybe that’s why we try to improve things in other ways, like looking for romance.
” Disrupting circadian rhythms can also lead to a lack of certain hormones, such as oxytocin, as well as reduce the interaction of dopamine and serotonin in the brain,” Nelson says.
“In the winter you might think – I want dopamine, I want oxytocin, maybe this person will give it to me.”
Oxytocin is known as” the love hormone” – mainly because of its role in reproduction, social bonding and stress reduction. It’s released into our bloodstream by the brain’s pituitary gland and makes us feel pleasurable.
Photo by Serenity Strull/Getty Images
“We are completely social people. We make efforts to form communities, civilisations … and our physiology contributes to that,” says Carter.” Oxytocin brings us together, helps us stay together.”
Oxytocin levels also increase with physical touch, such as hugs and intercourse. “The bonds that form during sex can be quite strong,” Carter says. – Especially during
Either way, “cuffing season” can tell us something about “our relationship with relationships,” as Justin Garcia says.
Our family, he argues, plays an important role in our search for romance. We are often surrounded by family and friends during the holidays, and it makes us think – what kind of person do I want to bring home?
Family and relatives are more involved in our romantic choices than any other species on this planet, says Garcia.
‘Family puts a lot of pressure, even if it’s not obvious,’ says the researcher. – When we are surrounded by family and friends, it reminds us that there are certain expectations of partnership and family formation. In that sense, it’s a truly unique human trait .
It turns out that cuffing season has no biological explanation, but rather a social or cultural pattern.