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Here’s What Everyone Does On Valentine’s Day

The most popular activity is...

When you first start dating, Valentine’s Day is a big deal right? (Well, everything seems like a big deal.) You expect to get dressed up, go out and have a glorious, rom-com-worthy evening. But what does everyone else have planned for the night?

The Monmouth University Poll satisfied our curiosity. Researchers polled more than 1,000 people about their Valentine’s Day habits to figure out who’s celebrating and exactly what they’re doing.

As it turns out, despite the vocal “Hallmark holiday” backlash, two-thirds of people currently in a relationship still do something special on February 14. The most popular activity is—you guessed it—the romantic “night out on the town.”

But here’s what is most interesting…enthusiasm for the whole going-out-on-Valentine’s Day thing totally seems to dwindle with age. Whereas roughly half of young adults ages 18 to 34 in relationships report heading out for a big night, that number falls to 40 percent in the 35 to 54 age group and 36 percent in the 55 and older set.

“Doing new and interesting things is even more important in established relationships where the newness of being together has worn off,” says lead author Dr. Gary Lewandowski, a professor of psychology at Monmouth and co-founder of Science of Relationships, in a press release.

So even if you fall into the “I’m no longer into it” group, try something cool and new at home together—even if it’s just testing a new type of takeout. And you can always ditch tradition and schedule a date night for the 15th or 16th instead. You know, be rebels. However you celebrate (or don’t celebrate), just make sure you’re having fun and generating happy vibes together—which really is the best way to spend a day with your Valentine.

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Image Credit: Getty