Women take longer to get over romantic rejection

(Photo: Suada Isaki)

If you still find your mind wandering back to that person you were with three years ago and wondering where it all went wrong, even though you keep telling yourself you should be over them by now, you are in good company.

A new study into the psychological impact of rejection has found that it takes on average one month for every year you were in the relationship to get over your ex.

Women were found to take 20 per cent longer to get over the heartache of a five-year relationship than men, even though they were more likely to be the one doing the rejecting (58 per cent compared to 44 per cent of men), the Daily Mail reports.

Where the relationship was over ten years, this rose to 30 per cent longer, and one in 12 said they never got over the rejection. 

Women were also more likely to feel insecure after romantic rejection - 51 per cent compared with 38 per cent of men. 

Psychologist Donna Dawson said: "Rejection is one of the worst feelings that men and women can experience. It calls up questions about self-worth and self-confidence, which lie at the core of our social personalities.

"Women are more psychologically 'wired' than men to find relationships the most important aspect of their lives, which is why they take longer to get over a broken one.

"Ironically, women do more rejecting because they are sharper at sensing that a relationship is going nowhere.

"Men are more psychologically wired for emotional distance and for competition in the workplace, and so they can bounce back more quickly from rejection and put a more positive spin on it."