Generations of authors, singers and film-makers had it wrong - ending a relationship is not that difficult after all, according to a new study. The research at Northwestern University found people fared better than they expected after a break-up. The study looked at 26 people who had been in a relationship lasting at least two months and broke up with their partners during the first six months of the nine-month study. Participants filled in a questionnaire every fortnight predicting how they would feel were they to split from their partner and how they felt after the end of their relationship. Those most in love were likely to predict they would feel worse after a split than they actually did. However, they did experience more trauma on splitting than those who were less in love.