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Wedding rings are a sign of unity between two people and are supposed to be worn at all times. Despite this, a new study is reporting that in the United Kingdom, one in three married or engaged women take off their wedding rings when they are in certain situations out of fear that the ring will ruin their prospects. 

For this survey, the researchers interviewed 1,712 married or engaged women over the age of 18. The researchers found that 35 percent of women stated that they removed their rings at work, 29 percent said they did so during job interviews and 22 percent admitted taking their rings off while socializing. When the researchers asked the participants why they chose to take of their rings, 62 percent of the women who took off their rings during work said that they did not want the ring to hurt their career or job prospects. For the women who took off their rings during a job interview 71 percent of them expressed the same concerns.

The researchers found that during the interviews, 55 percent of the women stated that their interviewers or employers were females and that they were worried that a ring would indicate that they were not planning on working long since they might start a family soon. For the group of women who took their rings off during social situations, 59 percent of them admitted that they did so to appear single. Eight percent stated that they feared losing their rings. Surprisingly, one in ten, equivalent to 11 percent, women stated that they took off their rings to cheat.

"It seems that a fair few women in the UK are 'ring removers.' Even in modern times, many women still firmly believe that they are pigeon-holed by their relationship status - fearing fewer opportunities should they be viewed as likely to swan off to start a family, and so take their ring off to avoid this happening," commented Ali O'Neill. "Whether this be the case or not, it's clear that these kind of stereotypes are still a problem in the workplace. It's clear from our results that engagement and wedding rings signify so much more than simply a marriage - they're a signal of our life plan. Whether or not others take note of the rings, as many women believe, remains to be seen."

This reports opens light to the problems women might have with being judged based on their marital status. The findings suggest that more needs to be done in the workplace to fix these stereotypes.