Survey shows what habits women, men hate the most

Unfaithfulness and indecent dressing are the most annoying habits in Kenya, according to a new survey by consumer market research firm Ipsos-Synovate.

The survey released on Wednesday shows that 44 per cent of women dislike infidelity among men while 45 per cent of men said they hate miniskirts, indecent dresses and tight trousers worn by women.

Alcoholism, drunkenness and drug abuse emerged as the most disliked habits that men have according to the women interviewed.

Gossiping emerged as the second most disliked habit among women according to male respondents.

Victor Rateng, the project manager for opinion polls at Ipsos-Synovate, said that unfaithfulness can lead to separation and conflict, affecting an individual’s overall quality of life, professional progression and performance at work.

“Alcoholism and drunkenness affect ones prospects of investing, has other health and psychological effects and may end up affecting what an individual can deliver at work,” he said.

According to the survey, women in the North Eastern were the unhappiest about unfaithfulness at 58 per cent, followed by Eastern at 55 per cent and Western Kenya at 53 per cent. Nairobi and Central regions had the lowest incidence at 32 and 34 per cent respectively.

The survey shows that excessive drinking is considered more of a problem in rural areas and is most prevalent in the Eastern and Central regions.

Maggie Ireri, the managing director, Ipsos-Synovate, said that the economies of Kiambu and Murang’a had been adversely affected by alcoholism because young men drunk all day instead of working.

She said that the proportion of those who complained about excessive drinking increased with age.

“This is not surprising because such behaviour is common and even expected among young men who tend to party a lot while sowing their wild oats. As they grow older, settle down in marriage and start having children, they are generally expected to shed this habit,” she said.

Other annoying habits men have according to the women surveyed include stinginess, untidiness, domestic violence, undermining women, urinating in public places and irresponsible behaviour in general.

Mr Rateng said that the disliked habits are prone to lead to conflicts, lack of concentration, poor productivity and waste of funds that could have otherwise been wisely invested.

“Men are visual and they will be looking at the lady at the office who now becomes the centre of attraction and discussion at work. This may lead to the men spending time thinking of how to date her and it drains them both financially and emotionally,” he said.

Mr Rateng said that this could end up affecting the overall well-being of a company or firm.

According to the survey, men aged over 45 were mostly irritated by indecent dressing at 57 per cent while 18 to 24 year-olds disliked it the least at 36 per cent.

“This again is a cultural phenomenon where young people have more leeway when it comes to certain behavioural aspects compared to older people who are supposed to have outgrown them,” said Ms Ireri adding that the North Eastern region had the lowest incidences of indecent dressing.

The survey showed that unfaithfulness was considered annoying by seven per cent of the men surveyed. In contrast, “gold digging” or expecting money or items of value from men all the time and alcoholism scored high on the habits men dislike about women.

Other annoying female habits included talking to other people about their relationship issues, nagging, being generally irresponsible, disrespectful behaviour towards men, pride, smelly bodies, wearing excessive make-up, smoking and spousal battery.

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