Despite what stereotypes and romantic comedies would have you believe, women aren't always the first to say  "I love you"  in a new relationship. In fact, according to recent research, men are much more likely than their female partners to say - or at least consider saying - " I love you" for the first time. " Interestingly, a new study has found that when it comes to confessions of love, men often are the first to declare their feelings"  The Chicago Sun-Times reports. " Contrary to popular belief, women aren't "as quick as men to confess their love, despite their reputation for being emotionally-driven and relationship-oriented.

The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, which published the study, reports that two-thirds of heterosexual couples say the man in the relationship was the first to drop the L-bomb. Furthermore, the men considered saying " I love you" a full six weeks before the gals did - so take that, romantic comedy tropes! The same study also discovered that men are more likely to want to hear "I love you" if they haven't yet been sexually intimate with their partners (probably because they think hearing the L-word means they're about to get laid). Women, on the other hand, like hearing those three little words after the deed.