Marriage proposals study looks at the psychology of suitors

What does your marriage proposal say about you?

We may be about to find out the psychology behind successful and failed marriage proposals is the subject of a new study at the University of Victoria.

• Got your own marriage proposal story to share? Tell us in the comments below!

Lisa Hoplock, a PhD candidate in the department of psychology, has previously conducted research on how people start a relationship by flirting, and what they do to look for and get support in those romantic quests.

"I like to look at how personality traits like self-esteem affects people's thoughts, feelings and behaviours in situations that have an equal opportunity for reward or costs," said Hoplock.

The topic of marriage proposals kept onpopping up in her research, and she later realized that marriage proposals hadn't been studied much.

"How can we better understand this ritual that takes place?" said Hoplock.

Epic proposals - extrovertedor uncertain?

Hoplock's researchwill include conducting interviews about more personal proposals and examining YouTube videos of epic marriage proposals.

On mobile? Click here to watch the "World's First LiveLip-DubProposal"

"I'm wondering if sometimes these people are really extroverted and they like the attention," said Hoplock.

Her other hypothesis is that epic marriage proposalsmay stem from the proposer's uncertainty.

"Maybe they think that they'll pressure [their partner]into saying yes because it's in front of 100,000 people."

On mobile? Click here to watch "Epic Fail - Marriage Proposal at NBA Game"

Simple sit-down or super extravagant?

Hoplock's own marriage proposal was a sit-down discussion with her partner.

"That ...served as a reminder that they're not all these big proposals," said Hoplock. "There's quite a range and not everyone's going to go out there and do something super extravagant."

To listen to the full interview, click on the Listen button above or click here.

• Got your own marriage proposal story to share? Tell us in the comments below!