Researchers have coined the term 'sitcoms' for people who can't find the right partner because they are hung up on their previous flames.
The sitcom tag is particularly appropriate because their love lives resemble a situation comedy, as they drift in and out of relationships without letting go of the past, the Daily Mail reported.
A survey of 1,000 people in the UK asked men and women members of a dating website the reasons why they haven't found the right partner.
The most popular answer was that those they meet online do not match up to a previous lover.
Some 41 per cent of women and 39 per cent of men polled said they still had feelings for an ex-lover and this made it difficult to commit to a new partner.
Twenty-four per cent of women polled explained they were too busy at work to make a commitment, while 29 per cent said they didn't like meeting people in pubs and clubs.
For almost a third of men and women finding new love was difficult because they did not have enough friends to help them mix with new people.
