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    1. Life
    2. Relationships

    Thought Sex Was Important To Your Relationship? Think Again...

    A new study has revealed couples' top relationship priorities. And the results are totally unexpected.

    By Marie Claire
    Published 3 September 2015 In Features

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    A new study has revealed couples' top relationship priorities. And the results are totally unexpected.

    Yep, turns out, sex isn't all that. Or at least, it isn't all that important to your relationship, at any rate.

    According to the Way We Are Now 2015 report, which studied 6000 people (some loved-up, some flying solo), more than half of them hadn't had sex in the last month. And even those who had had sex didn't consider it a top priority.

    Instead, they rated the following three things as make-or-break factors in their relationship status...

    NUMBER ONE: HONESTY

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    Yep, turns out we're a lot more reliant on the truth than the founders of Ashley Madison would have you imagine. A whopping 70 per cent of people surveyed said that this was the most important thing for them in their relationship.

    Bearing in mind that other factors could have included the ability to watch an entire series of Scandal in one go without pausing it to go to the toilet, a fondness for the exact same pizza toppings as you, or an interest in sitting in changing rooms and sounding enthusiastic for ten hours on end, this is a pretty big deal.

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    It shouldn't be too surprising though. After all, honesty is the best policy. And also, people who lie to you are just generally really annoying. Albeit very good at surprise birthday parties. NUMBER TWO: COMMUNICATION

    Coming up in second place, the ability to talk / write or text to your partner in an open and honest fashion (see above, duh) is really important to 67 per cent of men and women. Unfortunately, preferred topics of conversation weren't specified (can somebody do that survey soon, please? It would make dating so much easier), but we can only presume they include the following:

    What boxset should we watch when we finish Scandal and you go to the toilet?

    What to read next
    • Toni Tone What It Feels Like to Unlearn Everything You Thought Love Was “I’m Not Looking for Anyone to Make Me Happy” — Toni Tone on People-Pleasing, Self-Worth and Healthy Love
    • Louise O'Neill started dating at 39 -- here's what she learnt I Started Dating Again at 39. Here Are 21 Things I Learned About Men
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    What pizza toppings can we order tonight?

    How much fun it is to sit in a changing room for ten hours on end while dishing out compliments.

    NUMBER THREE: COMMITMENT

    We're not going to raise our eyebrows at this and make a snarky comment about how predictable this is, because honestly speaking (priorities one and two ticked off right there), who wants a partner who isn't totally sure if they want to be your partner? That just sounds rubbish.

    Thankfully, 57 per cent of those surveyed were in agreement (we're sending sympathetic thoughts to the remaining 43 per cent's partners).

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