Which quote is more accurate in actual life practice?

  * Absence makes the heart grow fonder
  * Out of site, out of mind

Hi Hailstorm,

According to the results of a study published in New Scientist,
"absence makes the heart grow fonder" is more accurate for men at
least.

Researchers found that the longer the time that men were away from
their wives or girlfriends, the more attractive and desirable they
rated the women.  Interestingly, the researchers found that women's
ratings of men were unaffected by time apart.
see: New Scientist: "Together again," cached by archive.org
http://web.archive.org/web/20000118014558/http://www.newscientist.com/ns/19990904/newsstory4.html

Also see: 

"OUT OF SIGHT, ON HIS MIND," on psychologytoday.com
http://www.psychologytoday.com/htdocs/prod/PTOArticle/PTO-20000101-000008.ASP


"BOSTON (AP) - So who pines away the longest, men or women?" archived
by Google Groups:
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&selm=NUtv3.403%24xM1.169637%40news-west.eli.net

"Less time with partner, more interest in sex," hosted by
preventdisease.com
http://preventdisease.com/yourhealth/sexualhealth/articles/less_time_with_partner_more_interest_in_sex.html


A different take on this subject:

' Folklore tells us two things: "absence makes the heart grow fonder"
and "out of sight, out of mind." Which is right? Well both probably
are, depending on what you think about while you are separated. If you
dwell on what the lover is doing and how wonderful he/she is and how
much you miss him/her, your love will grow. If, on the other hand, you
are busy and do not think much about him/her or, worse yet, think
about another potential lover (or nudes in a magazine), your love is
likely to decline. This is not just in matters of love, Tesser (1978)
has a theory that as we think more and more about an issue, our
opinion about that issue will become more extreme.'
source: Mentalhelp.net "Effects on Separation"
http://mentalhelp.net/psyhelp/chap10/chap10d.htm


search strategy:
"absence makes the heart", "out of sight", study

I hope this helps.

Personally, I prefer "Abstinence makes the hard go fondler her."

About 1 million years ago (maybe not quite that many....more like 20),
I was a young man, enlisted in the US Marines.  I had met a nice,
attractive young woman whose father was a retired US Marine Captain. 
As can happen with the military, I found myself in a situation
involving traveling away for an extended time.

My girlfriend's father quoted me this, which I remember to this day
(tho, it didn't prove true for she and I): "Absence makes the heart
grow fonder.......for somebody else".

I know that it happens both ways, but thought it worth sharing.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder is more accurate.

Since out of "site", out of mind is misspelled.

It should read.. "Out of Sight, out of mind"

I like this quote better.. "If you love something, let it go.  If it
comes back it's yours.  If it doesn't, it never was".

I've fallen in love with a girl who has a boyfriend. However her
boyfriend has been abroad for several months. I would preffer if "Out
of sight, out of mind" were true, but from what she says about her
boyfriend (describing him as a perfect man, while my own heart is
being destroyed at the same time) it seems that "Absence maks the
heart grow fonder" is more accurate. :(