? ? WORLD / Health Lovelorn, you will survive (Reuters) Updated: 2007-08-2 ? ? WORLD / Health Lovelorn, you will survive (Reuters) Updated: 2007-08-21 09:22 CHICAGO -- Despite the laments of pining pop stars and sad sack poets, US researchers now think breaking up may not be so hard to do. A young couple is seen in Moscow in this undated photo. Despite the laments of pining pop stars and sad sack poets, US researchers now think breaking up may not be so hard to do. [Reuters] "We underestimate our ability to survive heartbreak," said Eli Finkel, an assistant professor of psychology at Northwestern University, whose study appears online in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Finkel and colleague Paul Eastwick studied young lovers -- especially those who profess ardent affection -- to see if their predictions of devastation matched their actual angst when that love was lost. "On average, people overestimate how distressed they will be following a breakup," Finkel said in a telephone interview. The nine-month study involved college students who had been dating at least two months who filled out questionnaires every two weeks. They gathered data from 26 people -- 10 women and 16 men -- who broke up with their partners during the first six months of the study. The participants' forecasts of distress two weeks before the breakup were compared to their actual experience as recorded over four different periods of time. Not surprisingly, they found the more people were in love, the harder they took the breakup. "People who are more in love really are a little more upset after a breakup, but their perceptions about how distraught they will be are dramatically overstated when compared to reality," Finkel said. "At the end of the day, it is just less bad than you thought." Top World News ? * Gazans battle blackouts as EU suspends fuel aid * Thais approve new constitution * Top alert for Indonesia volcano, 600 evacuate * German woman abducted in Kabul * Powerful earthquake rattles Peru, killing 510 Today's Top News ? * Multinationals blacklisted for pollution * Police warn of Olympic hijack threat * China stocks rise 5% in Asian rally * Green tea may help cancer-fighting * Unsafe sex major cause of HIV infection Most Commented/Read Stories in 48 Hours 20071125 http://www.hellomandarin.net 1 09:22 CHICAGO -- Despite the laments of pining pop stars and sad sack poets, US researchers now think breaking up may not be so hard to do. A young couple is seen in Moscow in this undated photo. Despite the laments of pining pop stars and sad sack poets, US researchers now think breaking up may not be so hard to do. [Reuters] "We underestimate our ability to survive heartbreak," said Eli Finkel, an assistant professor of psychology at Northwestern University, whose study appears online in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Finkel and colleague Paul Eastwick studied young lovers -- especially those who profess ardent affection -- to see if their predictions of devastation matched their actual angst when that love was lost. "On average, people overestimate how distressed they will be following a breakup," Finkel said in a telephone interview. The nine-month study involved college students who had been dating at least two months who filled out questionnaires every two weeks. They gathered data from 26 people -- 10 women and 16 men -- who broke up with their partners during the first six months of the study. The participants' forecasts of distress two weeks before the breakup were compared to their actual experience as recorded over four different periods of time. Not surprisingly, they found the more people were in love, the harder they took the breakup. "People who are more in love really are a little more upset after a breakup, but their perceptions about how distraught they will be are dramatically overstated when compared to reality," Finkel said. "At the end of the day, it is just less bad than you thought." Top World News ? * Gazans battle blackouts as EU suspends fuel aid * Thais approve new constitution * Top alert for Indonesia volcano, 600 evacuate * German woman abducted in Kabul * Powerful earthquake rattles Peru, killing 510 Today's Top News ? * Multinationals blacklisted for pollution * Police warn of Olympic hijack threat * China stocks rise 5% in Asian rally * Green tea may help cancer-fighting * Unsafe sex major cause of HIV infection Most Commented/Read Stories in 48 Hours 20071125 http://www.hellomandarin.net