New research has revealed that after a break-up, men may take up to four weeks longer than women to change their Facebook relationship status.

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A study by dating site ALovingSpace.com found that 63 percent of men "prolong the misery" of changing their relationship status to "Single" for a month or more and eight percent fail to update their status at all. When they do, just one third of men will admit to having been dumped, while a tiny 15 percent will share the reasons why.

The study, which was based on a survey of 1,000 unmarried 18-65 year-old male and female members across the UK, also found that men found it more difficult to cope with break-ups than women, and were more likely to keep their emotions hidden to appear "tough" in front of friends.

Female respondents, however, said they had or would update their relationship status immediately — often with the intention of hurting or humiliating their ex-partners.

It appears that contrary to popular belief, women are not necessarily more vulnerable after a break-up. A spokesman for ALovingSpace.com said he was "not surprised" by the results, and that men only appeared to deal with break-ups better than women due to "societal conditioning."

On the face of it, men are the tough talkers and the ones who present a tougher front but behind the facade they hurt just like women.

"Because they suppress their emotions it ends up hurting even more." he said.

"Our research appears to suggest that men are hit the hardest by relationship break-ups and, as a result, prolong the misery of telling the world about it on social media platforms such as Facebook.

"Women, on the other hand, seem to see things in a more positive light, viewing a break-up as an opportunity to move on and find someone who they are more compatible with."

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