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Men still live on Mars and women on Venus, the Relationships Australia survey of 1200 adults shows.
Men trying to improve their relationships tend to cook meals or leave little notes for their partner, but women are more likely to be practical and want to "get issues out in the open".
The study also found women were twice as likely as men to want to improve relationships by spending more time with the kids.
Couples most commonly tried to improve their relationships by spending time together -- but this was true for 33 per cent of women and only 23 per cent of men.
And when asked what the best thing about their relationship was, women were more likely than men to list friendship, love and support.
Men were more likely than women to list compatibility, the length of the relationship and doing things together.
Women are more open to discussing relationship problems with outsiders -- 70 per cent of women do so, compared with 60 per cent of men.
The Relationships Indicators Survey also found 83 per cent of respondents agreed the pressure of both men and women not wanting to compromise their careers is putting relationships at risk.
And 88 per cent think relationships are in trouble because of the difficulty of balancing work and family.
Relationship psychologist Michael Burge said that "Mars and Venus are alive and well".
"It is important that we do accept there are differences between men and women," he said.
"While a man might want to go into his cave if there are relationship problems, a woman often wants to talk things through."
Marty Leacy, director of dating agency It's Just Lunch, said men "aren't always as clued in about feelings".
"And because of this we sometimes don't act until it's too late, and we want the instant fix like roses and dinner, whereas the woman wants a big chat."
There were other gender stereotypes that appear to hold true, he said.
"Some women find it harder to move on from past relationships, while men just want to get on and find someone new."
Kelly King and Toby Ewart have been together for three years.
Ms King, 25, a sales manager, said the couple rarely argued.
"If there are any issues Toby generally goes quiet and he would prefer that it just blows over, whereas I want to talk about it straight away," she said.
The Elwood couple agreed men and women dealt with relationships differently, but said they seemed to have a positive effect on one another.
"Kelly thinks I am really relaxed and (that) this is rubbing off on her," Mr Ewart, 29, said.
Article from Herald Sun
By Susie O'Brien and Antonia Magee
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