Giving your wife or girlfriend a bunch of flowers may not have quite the effect you desired. She may think it's a sign you're cheating, a study has revealed.
The study asked 1,500 men and 1,500 women in long-term relationships what they thought about presents from their partners.
It is found that three quarters of women admit they are suspicious when their man turns up with a bouquet out of the blue.
And more than a quarter of women said their partner had given them a gift in the past after doing something wrong.
Nearly half of the men said they had stopped buying gifts for a partner in the past in case it leads to paranoia.
It also found the level of suspicion is related to the cost of the gift.
A box of chocolates usually suggested he had lied about something and a candlelit dinner often meant he has bad news.
The gifts which do not cause suspicion are treats such as cakes or a takeaway.
"The more indulgent the gift, the greater the suspicion it seems." said Graeme Nash, who commissioned the research.
He added: "The common misconception is that only cheats treat their partners with expensive gifts, so if you want to sweet talk your partner the best way to say it is with a piece of cake."
On average men treated their partners to three surprise gifts every year.
Food psychologist Dr Christy Fergusson said: "It's quite worrying that we're so suspicious and paranoid. Maybe if we all treated our partners more often we'd be more likely to accept the sentiment rather than start worrying."



研究发现，送一捧花给你的妻子或是女朋友并不能得到你想要的结果，反而她还会认为这种行为说明你有事骗了她。

这项研究就如何看待另一半送给自己的礼物这件事，分别对处于持久恋情中的男女各1500名进行了测试。

75%的女性坦言，当另一半捧着一束花突然出现在她们面前时，就会让她们心生疑虑。

超过25%的女性说以前自己的另一半做错事后，他们就送会礼物。

近一半的男性说自己曾经在给另一半买礼物的中途停下来了，以避免被猜忌。

研究还发现，怀疑程度与礼物价钱有关系。

送一盒巧克力往往暗示着另一半撒了谎，而请吃一顿烛光晚餐则说明他要公布坏消息了。

送几块蛋糕或者是带一份外卖则不会引起怀疑。

负责这项研究的格雷姆•纳什说："越是显得溺爱另一半的礼物，越能让人引起怀疑。"

"人们普遍怀有一个偏颇的认识，即只有骗子才会给另一半送价格不菲的礼物。所以如果你想给另一半献殷勤，最好的方式就是送她一块蛋糕。" 纳什补充说。

一般情况下，男性每年会送三次让他们的另一半惊喜的礼物。

食物心理学家克里斯蒂•格森教授说："这种多疑和偏执的现象是很令人担忧的。也许如果我们可以经常这样'款待'另一半，可能就会得到真情而非忧虑。"

• partner [´pɑ:tnə] n.伙伴 v.同....合作 (初中英语单词)
• suspicion [sə´spiʃən] n.怀(猜)疑；嫌疑 (初中英语单词)
• expensive [ik´spensiv] a.费钱的，昂贵的 (初中英语单词)
• sentiment [´sentimənt] n.情绪；多愁善感 (初中英语单词)
• suspicious [sə´spiʃəs] a.可疑的，多疑的 (高中英语单词)
• related [ri´leitid] a.叙述的；有联系的 (高中英语单词)
• bouquet [bu:´kei] n.花束；恭维话 (英语四级单词)
• psychologist [sai´kɔlədʒist] n.心理学家 (英语六级单词)