Survey: Valentine gift-giver is recipient

TIMONIUM , Md., Feb. 5 (UPI) -- Valentine's Day is a day of love -- even if U.S. lovebirds admit to sending themselves gifts on the day earmarked for romance, a survey reported.

About 8 million Americans admitted buying themselves Valentines gifts, the Bill Me Later-Ipsos Insight survey revealed.

The survey found a large gulf between gifts women would like to receive and what they actually get. While 22 percent of the gift-giving men said they'd buy lingerie, a mere 2 percent of women mentioned unmentionables. The survey found jewelry was the second most requested gift by women -- but only ranked fifth as the gift men said they planned to give.

Men's top gift? A hug -- 90 percent said they'd give their main squeeze a squeeze. Flowers was favored the most by women, at 21 percent.

Valentine's Day also is a day for a change of heart -- 6 million people broke it off with someone, the survey said.

The figures were extrapolated from a random-sample telephone survey of 1,000 Americans ages 18 and older with a 3 percent margin of error, officials said.