And now a study conducted by social science researchers at the University of Göttingen in Germany and the female health app, Clue, used data gathered from 64 000 women who come from 150 different countries to finally reveal the world’s best-kept secret.

The answer, however, surprisingly is just someone who treats them well.

In simpler terms, the number one thing most women in the study could agree on about what they wanted most from their long-term partner is kindness.

Religious, political views and height preference were all among the questions posed at the women who mostly considered themselves heterosexual, although New York Post reports that queer and bisexual women also participated in the study.

Coming in at a staggering 90% vote from the women whose ages ranged between 25-29 and some 3,800 of the participants, over the age of forty, was the need for kind treatment from their partner, the study reported.

Following closely behind kindness is supportiveness at 86,5 percent, while intelligence, level of education and confidence finished the top five things most women would like from their partners.

While these were the findings of the study in general, when closely examining the stats, researchers found that American, Mexican, Japanese and Colombian women valued financial security more than women from other countries.

The study also found that around 90% of the women wanted a partner who was taller than them.

They also reported that the women preferred men with short haircuts as opposed to the long-haired gent always pictured as a women’s dream in those nineties movies.

Only 25% of them said that their partners’ religious views were important to them.

The researchers, not wanting to completely leave men out of the equation, also asked some 700 men to complete the survey and found that men’s desirable traits that they wanted from their partners were surprisingly nearly identical to women's.

The only difference was instead of confidence at number five as with the women, men preferred a long-term partner with ambition.

A small number of men did, however, share some similarities with lesbian women who completed their top five with a need for average breasts, an average butt and an attractive back.

Nope, no one’s surprised.

News24