Men Need Respect More Than Love
By Emerson Eggerichs
I sometimes get the question, "You say women need love and men need respect. Isn't the opposite just as true? Don't women need respect and guys need love?"
My answer is, of course, women need respect and guys need love, but I'm talking about the primary drive in each sex.
In one national study, four hundred men were given a choice between going through two different negative experiences. If they were forced to choose one of the following, which would they prefer to endure?
a) to be left alone and unloved in the world
b) to feel inadequate and disrespected by everyone
Seventy-four percent of these men said that if they were forced to choose, they would prefer being alone and unloved in a world.
For these men, the greater negative experience for their souls to endure would be to feel inadequate and disrespected by everyone.
I have had numerous men confirm this research by telling me, "I would rather live with a wife who respected me but did not love me than live with a wife who loved me but did not respect me."
These men are not saying they are indifferent to love. They know they need love, but they need to feel respected even more than to feel loved. Perhaps a good analogy is water and food. We need both to survive, but we can live longer without food than without water. For men, love is like food and respect is like water. Enough said!
Respect is the key to motivating a husband.
Content for this article comes entirely from the book Love and Respect by Emerson Eggerichs.