Yearender 2025: Here are the top 5 relationship trends of the year

Todays couples are entering a relationship period like never before with regard to emotional flexibility new types of technology distractions that take precedence over traditional forms of communicating like phone calls and emails shifting priorities when it comes to work families and what makes them happyAll these changes combined with finding deeper meaning in life has resulted in enormous growth in the way couples define and expect from each otherThe latest Gleeden x IPSOS survey which surveyed 1510 adults from Tier 1 cities such as New Delhi Mumbai Bengaluru Hyderabad Ahmedabad and Kolkata along with adults from smaller tier 2 cities such as Jaipur Ludhiana Patna Kochi Guwahati and Indore provides an insightful overview of how relationships will be formed and function in 2025Here are the top 5 trends of 2025Couples will redesign their relationshipsWhile love and companionship remain important couples today are open to developing new ways to bond and build memories An overwhelming percentage of survey participants 5237 in tier 1 cities amp 5437 in tier 2 cities stated they are comfortable having sexual encounters with others besides their primary partner Additionally cities such as Mumbai 60 per cent Indore 62 per cent Kolkata 59 per cent New Delhi 56 per cent and Bangalore 40 per cent demonstrated varying degrees of openness to this possibilityThe transition of urban couples toward being more emotionally transparent is reflective of a new paradigm shift regarding monogamy Rather than viewing monogamy as an expectation imposed on a couple urban couples are starting to think of their relationships as something they choose and create together through negotiation In other words the exclusivity of a relationship can no longer simply be assumed instead it must now be negotiated together by both partnersEmotional affairs go mainstreamWhile couples are exploring physical boundaries within their relationships they are now also exploring emotional boundaries In fact the results of a survey have shown that 37 per cent of respondents from Tier 1 cities and 43 per cent from Tier 2 cities have established emotional connections with individuals outside of their primary relationship Some cities with the highest levels of emotional involvement include Guwahati 52 per cent Hyderabad 44 per cent and Kolkata 42 per cent while even metropolitan areas like Delhi 38 per cent and Mumbai 37 per cent indicate an increase in emotional involvementThe fact that emotional relationships are now functioning as parallel support systems for couples to provide guidance support understanding and validation is noteworthy For example in cities such as Bangalore and Mumbai where there are very high rates of stress and extremely fastpaced lifestyles many couples are finding ways to fill that gap through the companionship of other people emotionally In most cases these couples are not necessarily looking to end their existing relationships instead they are looking to fulfil their emotional needs in ways they do not typically define as ldquoinfidelityrdquo or ldquocheatingrdquo but rather as ldquoconnecting with another personA space for fantasiesIf the secret sanctuary for relationships in 2025 is not to be found at home then it is probably in the realm of fantasy It appears that almost 40 per cent of respondents in both Tier1 and Tier2 areas have admitted to thinking about someone they know while sexually intimate or during masturbation The cities showing the strongest indication of this trend include in order Hyderabad 50 per cent Mumbai 46 per cent Indore 46 per cent and comparatively lower participants in Kochi 32 per cent and Delhi 40 per centFantasy has moved away from being viewed as an act of infidelity to being thought of as a way of playing out the individualrsquos mental landscape of excitement novelty or escapist fantasy More and more couples destigmatise their fantasies and regard them as mental play and understand that the use of onersquos imagination does not equate to being unfaithful but that these imaginative experiences are usually regarded as psychological playFlirting as emotional air conditioningFlirting can now be defined as a way to relieve tension from the relationship andor an emotional outlet flirting has gone from a taboo to an emotional outlet from relationships Survey responses indicate that 44 per cent of respondents in Tier2 and 39 per cent in Tier1 reported that they engaged in online flirting Cities with high percentages of online flirting include Guwahati 54 per cent Bengaluru 38 per cent Kolkata 38 per cent and Kochi 38 per cent Flirting in real life shows similar percentages with 42 per cent of respondents in Tier2 and 35 per cent in Tier1 with Indore Jaipur and Ludhiana being particularly high in participantsToday flirting may not have the same stigma as previously as it is often a way of being acknowledged and seen by others In metropolitan areas like Delhi and Mumbai it is common for individuals to experience stress and burnout from their jobs and with little time for their intimate relationships they use flirting as a ldquorefresherrdquo or emotional release More couples realise that flirting can be an uplifting experience boosting their selfesteem and creating lightheartedness not necessarily acting as infidelityOnenight curiosity goes urbanAbout 40 per cent of couples in Tier 1 cities and 40 per cent in Tier 2 cities reported that they may consider having a onenight stand However what does this mean Based on the findings of this survey there is clearly more acceptance surrounding the idea of a onenight stand than ever before Some of the cities with the highest percentage of acceptance were Indore 51 per cent Kolkata 47 per cent and Mumbai 42 per cent Even cities that have traditionally been viewed as conservative like Jaipur 40 per cent and Kochi 34 per cent have a demonstrated increase in acceptance of these types of encountersWhat could the future of modern relationships be likeSybil Shiddell who is the country manager of Gleeden India says ldquoThe modern couple will find ways to be truthful with each other about themselves their desires and their relationships The 2025 couple will rely on truth communication and personal autonomy as their cornerstones The results of the survey indicate that as a society India is prepared to openly discuss their emotional needs desires and realities of being in longterm committed relationships As a relationship evolves over time it continues to be built on honesty and very often it will include elements of openness and a willingness to try new things What this tells us about the couples of today is that they dont want to be pressured to conform to how society thinks they should behave rather they want to be connected to what they really arerdquo