Investigative data from Countryside Hotels recently revealed how influencers' and friends' social media posts make many feel dissatisfied with their summer holidays. Now, new data shows that many Swedish couples also compare themselves to other couples on holiday, with some fantasising about being on holiday with someone else.
A new survey from Countryside Hotels shows that many Swedish couples look at other couples on holiday and compare their relationship to their own. Two percent do this often, while 23 percent do it sometimes.
”Perhaps it's the awareness that late summer and early autumn is a common time for divorces that leads every fourth Swedish couple to tune into other couples and compare their relationships,” says Anna Övergaard, marketing manager at Countryside Hotels.
Summer fantasies
But it's not just about comparing yourselves to other couples. Almost one in ten Swedes, 9 percent, in a relationship have fantasised about being with someone else at their holiday destination.
”Many couples therapists usually say that you must be allowed to fantasise without this leading to negative consequences from your partner, and it's clear that holiday times trigger fantasies for some Swedish couples,” says Anna Övergaard.
Also compare with TV
In the summer, it is also common for many people to watch TV and follow series. The survey shows that more than four in ten people in a relationship compare their relationship with those seen on TV. While four percent do it often, it happens sometimes for 38 percent.
15 per cent of people in a relationship who watch TV together have also fantasised about being with someone from the TV programme rather than their partner.
”Summer offers many lovely opportunities for time together, but of course also challenges, like perhaps spending more time together than in everyday life and encountering new environments, and our survey shows that it's both common and human to compare ourselves when in a relationship,” says Anna Övergaard.
The survey was conducted in spring 2024 on behalf of Countryside Hotels and was answered by 831 Swedes over the age of 18.
According to the press release.
