MOSCOW, February 11 (RIA Novosti) – Almost half of Russians are currently in love, although men with romantic feelings outnumber women, according to a new poll released Tuesday.
Some 48 percent of Russians admitted to being in love, 4 percent less than in 2011, the survey by the independent Levada Center found.
But, implying some emotional drama, the figure for men stood at 56 percent compared to just 40 percent for women. The poll did not give a gender breakdown for respondents.
A shy 10 percent declined to say whether they were in love, up from 8 percent in 2011, when the question was first polled.
Russians have also grown notably more tolerant of public displays of affection, with 46 percent saying they felt no particular emotions when they see couples making out in public. The figure was 33 percent in 1998.
Some do get hot and bothered by public smooching: 12 percent said that they were outraged by it and 11 percent irritated, while 10 percent were happy to see people kissing in public.
The number of Russian irritated by public kissing was 19 percent in 1998, with 16 percent professing outrage.
The mix of emotions felt by Russians witnessing a kissing couple also included shame (8 percent), curiosity (6 percent), sadness (4 percent), envy (3 percent) and delight (4 percent).
The poll, held ahead of Valentine’s Day on Friday, covered 1,600 respondents nationwide and had a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.
