MILLIONS of married women would rather spend time with their girlfriends than their husbands, a study has revealed.
Researchers found that women would prefer to spend a day off with their best friend because they were more fun, more likely to enjoy talking about relationships, or indulge in an exchange of gossip.
Shopping, going to a day spa, or having a meal and a glass of wine topped the list of activities women preferred to do in their spare time, with nearly a third agreeing that they think their girlfriends are much better company than their partner is.
Yesterday Sophie Scott, Marketing Manager at Lakeside Shopping Centre which polled the 3,000 women on their leisure time habits, said: ‘’The results of this survey are sure to strike a chord with millions of married women all over the UK today as they get ready to start the weekend.
‘’After a busy week at work, we all crave escapism and some ‘me time’ and it was fascinating to learn that women would prefer to spend theirs with girlfriends rather than their partners.
‘’Most surprisingly, one in ten of the women surveyed said they couldn't be themselves with their partner in the same way that they could be with their friends. Plus, nearly half said they couldn't talk to their partner about the same things they could talk to their friends about.
‘’Spending time with girlfriends and hitting the shops, or stopping for a coffee and a chat, can lift a woman’s mood and I certainly believe in the phrase ‘what we can't solve in real life, we can solve through retail therapy’.’’
The results of the survey also revealed that two thirds of women said they felt like they didn't get enough opportunities to catch up with their friends and felt guilty as a result.
In addition, six out of ten women always prefer to go shopping with their girlfriends to their partner with most trusting their female friends’ advice more.
When spending time with the girls, women also make more of a day’s retail therapy, with two thirds of women saying that they didn't just ‘shop’ when they went shopping.
Instead they were likely to go for a nice lunch, grab coffee, get their nails done, or even go to the cinema when visiting a shopping centre.
But half said that simply having a cup of coffee with their girlfriends and a chance to confide in one another was enough.
The study also found that women tended to make more of an effort with their appearance and their outfit when spending time with their female friends, by getting ‘glammed up’ in their best clothes and spending longer doing their hair and make-up than they would for spending the day with their partner.
A day out with their friends was also likely to cost more money than a day out with their other half, with women admitting that their friends encourage them to treat themselves more.
One in five also said that their friends gave them the confidence to be more daring when shopping.
