As the year moves on toward March, people may notice a trend: it seems like a lot of people are breaking up. Could this be a coincidence, or is there an actual reason for this? As it turns out, this is not a coincidence; March is one of the most popular times for breakups. There are a few different times of the year where there is a spike in breakups, including the holiday season, Valentine’s Day and pretty much all of March.
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, there may be a biological reason this is happening—it has to do with increased sunlight and a better frame of mind overall. In this article, Helen Fisher—an anthropologist at the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University—explained how biology might be the reason behind why there are so many more breakups in March.
“With more sunlight, people have more energy, more optimism, more interest in the future,” Fisher said. “If they look around their home and say, ‘This isn’t working,’ perhaps this is the time they have the energy to do something about it.” Steven Ward, Chief Executive of Master Matchmakers, said that he has also noticed a lot of people breaking up at this time of the year.
According to The Independent, spring is the beginning of “uncuffing season.” The article posits that March marks “the time of the year when relationships formed during the cold lonely winter months come to an end.”
Psychologist and social worker Dr. Danielle Forshee said in the Independent article that people tend to begin relationships in the winter months because the body produces more melatonin, which is a hormone that tends to make people feel tired. She then went on to explain that during the spring there is more serotonin produced, which makes people feel happier. Because people tend to feel happier by themselves, they do not feel that they need to be around other people to provide happiness.
Even though this is a tough time for people who have been broken up with, this is still an opportunity to meet someone new because people also tend to socialize more in the spring and summer months. Since people tend to feel happier overall during this time of year because of the spike in serotonin, this could also be a good time for people to work on themselves, their goals and hobbies while feeling okay being single.