Are Americans Tiring of Valentine’s Day? Or Are We Just Plain Tired?

SleepBetter.org Releases My Sleepy Valentine Survey

Attention romantics: you might want to rethink the candlelit dinner and dozen roses this Valentine’s Day. Thirty-five percent of Americans in a relationship say that February 14 is “just another day,” with one in five choosing a good night’s sleep as the ideal present.

But not so fast. Does sleep (wink, wink) really mean sleep? You bet it does, at least for most women. More than half the females polled (53%) said that good sleep is more important than good sex. Men said the opposite, with more opting for sex (48%) over slumber (38%). Either way, for those hoping for romance, almost one in three respondents (31%) laments that their partners sometimes fall asleep when the mood strikes, and 79 percent say they have never left a rose or rose petals on their partner’s pillow. So much for romance.

The findings are part of the My Sleepy Valentine Survey commissioned by sleep advice web site Sleepbetter.org and conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs. Of the 1,000 Americans polled, three-quarters indicated they currently were in a relationship, and these survey results are based exclusively on those responses.

“I don’t know whether these findings suggest that Americans are tiring of Valentine’s Day, or that we are just plain tired,” said Dan Schecter, vice president of consumer products at Carpenter Co., and creator of SleepBetter.org. “Then again, the gift of sleep can be downright romantic, even though I’m not sure I have the courage to make it this year’s Valentine’s gift.”

When asked if they purchased Valentine’s Day gifts to steer clear of getting in trouble with their honey, over three-quarters of respondents (77%) said no, although the split by gender indicates that men are more likely to hedge their bets (68% said no) than women (87% of women said there was no pressure).

For those in a relationship, the survey found the most desired gift is a romantic evening (cited by 47 percent of respondents), followed by a good night’s sleep (20%), card and flowers (18%) and chocolate (12%). As for what they actually have planned, 35 percent indicated they will do nothing at all, while 19 percent are staying in for a romantic evening at home and another 16 percent will celebrate (unromantically) with their kids.

Among other findings in the My Sleepy Valentine Survey:

87% of Americans in a relationship think that getting a quality night’s sleep helps their relationship

16% say their partners prevent them from getting a good night’s sleep

The reasons are: snoring (35%); talking/nagging (9%); watching TV or using computer in bedroom (8%); alternate working hours (5%); insomnia (5%); restlessness (4%); waking them up for sex (2%)

Asked when they best connect with their partner, 58% said evening/night. And 16% said in the morning, 13% in the afternoon and 10% midday

While 35% of all Americans said Valentine’s Day was “just another day,” respondents 55 years and older agreed at a much higher rate (51%)

39% of Americans say Valentine’s Day is important to their relationship; it is more important for the following:

68% for African-Americans

56% for Hispanics

58% for those earning under $25,000

46% for those who live in the South

Survey Methodology
These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted January 7-10, 2010. For the survey, a nationally representative sample of 737 randomly-selected adults in a relationship was interviewed by telephone via Ipsos’ U.S. Telephone Express omnibus. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate within ±3.6 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire population of adults in the U.S. been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were weighted to ensure the sample’s regional and age/gender composition reflects that of the actual U.S. population according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.