A new study shows that men are better than women at making up after a fight. The research was conducted by a team from Harvard University in the USA. It looked at the differences between how men and women made up with each other after same-sex sporting events. Lead author of the research, professor Joyce Benenson, concluded that men spend a longer time and put more effort into making up with their male sporting foes than women did with their female opponents. The researchers analysed recordings of tennis, table tennis, badminton and boxing involving men and women from 44 countries. They found that men spent considerably more time than women shaking hands and physically embracing.

Professor Benenson said she was surprised by her findings, especially at how women spent so little time making up with their rivals. She said: "What you'll see is that many times, females brush their fingers against each other….You're expected by the sport to do something but [with women] it's so frosty." This was in great contrast to men. Benenson observed that: "With the males, even with a handshake, you can see the warmth, the tightness of it." She added: "I expected this would be the least strong in boxing because you try to kill the other person, but it's the strongest in this sport. There really is this sense of love for your opponent, which is beyond my understanding."