The weather is getting chillier and for any singles out there itching to find love, experts say fall and winter months make perfect timing.
Cuffing season, a term coined by Urban Dictionary in 2011, is supposed to start in the beginning of November, reports online women’s magazine, Bustle.
According to several experts and outlets who use the term, cuffing is when single people suddenly feel interest to be promiscuous or find a serious relationship. This usually happens during cold months.
Relationship expert Tara Caffelle says people may be seeking relationships during fall and winter months to seek connection.
“Particularly when we’re nesting in for the winter and also looking ahead to the holiday season, which is so centred around connection and togetherness,” she tells Global News.
Toronto dating coach and matchmaker Christina Jay agrees, and adds people tend to cuff this season to be in relationships for Christmas, New Year’s celebrations and Valentine’s Day.
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“They don’t want to be alone or for their aunt to ask yet again why they are single at Christmas dinner,” she says.
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Is it love? Or something else?
There are plenty of reasons why people want to be in relationships. Author and relationship expert Margaret Paul writes most people tend to talk about having children, feeling safe or wanting someone to make them feel worthy.
However, she adds, most people want relationships to fill an empty space or find someone who can take care of them emotionally, financially and/or sexually, she writes in Huffpost.
Jay says whatever the case is, you should not be looking for love only to fill a void of being lonely for those certain months.
“You should be looking for love because you are ready for it and able to commit to a relationship and all the work involved not because you don’t want to be alone in the winter.”
Caffelle adds it is always good to seek out companionship, but it can be misleading and unfair to the other person to simply just use them.
“Being clear about that motivation and honest about it with whomever you are in a relationship is important.”
There may also be some science behind why these months, in particular, are popular for singles to find love, Bustle notes.
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“We do know testosterone rises in November,” Match.com’s chief scientific advisor, Dr. Helen Fisher told Bustle. “No one really knows why testosterone, estrogen and other hormones ebb and flow. But certainly, light and dark (and cold and hot) affect the mating habits of many other mammals. So perhaps humans have vestiges of these mammalian rhythms even if we don’t have a specific mating season.”
These elevated hormones, she adds, could trigger more people to find partners, and dating sites like Match, are often at peak during winter.
Best way to meet people this fall/winter
And summer may have been easier to be out and about to meet other singles, but experts say winter can be just as romantic.
“Meeting people through trusted sources such as friends or family can be a good option if one has a good circle. Both options can be good as they avoid daters just interested because it’s cuffing season,” Jay says.
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She also recommends finding a professional matchmaker to help you weed out daters who aren’t serious.
Caffelle suggests taking up a new sport or hobby that you enjoy doing in your spare time.
“I think many single people will find themselves with a similar desire for company and find one another. With anything, there will be people out there looking for other needs to be met, and that will always be true.”
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