97% of Brits say their dads show their love by gestures over words

With Father’s Day approaching, it’s time to celebrate the dads in our lives, especially after the countless day-to-day gestures they do for us to show their love, which can often go underappreciated.

In fact, 97% of Brits believe that their father’s show their love with actions, from helping us out with DIY around the house to always being a phone call away when we have car trouble.

To find out more about the efforts father’s go to, greetings card marketplace thortful surveyed the UK to find out the ways dads in the UK show their love and support, and they also spoke to psychotherapist Eloise Skinner to find out why our dads show their love through kind gestures.

Giving advice is the most valuable way father’s show their affection with 46% of Brits agreeing that their dads are invaluable to them when they need guidance. Green fingered dads came in at second place as almost a third (31%) show their love by helping out in the garden, whilst generous fathers who send money came in third with 30%.

See the full list of gestures below, which also includes dads who help out with DIY (29%) and those who send a thumb up on text (14%), which is a universal stamp of approval to many:

To find out more about why dads choose to show their love with actions over words, thortful teamed up with author and psychotherapist Eloise Skinner. Eloise explains:

“Some people prefer to show love, connection and affection through actions – and this could be for a variety of reasons! It could be that the individual’s personality or background means they feel less comfortable with saying affectionate phrases out loud, or they struggle to find the right words to express themselves.

“There could also be cultural factors at play: it might not feel normalised or typical to express love and affection through words or conversation. Showing connection through action can also be a more meaningful and enduring way to demonstrate love or affection – actions can take more physical or practical effort, and can often show a high degree of understanding of the recipient’s needs (fixing something that was broken, for example, or providing a late-night lift).”

Credit:  thortful surveyed 1,000 people via TLF – May 2024