Two people running in circles in opposite directions

A friend of us is doing a thesis about the meaning that people assign to words in different languages. For the purpose of the study, she chose the word "love" (I will not comment on this) and the study includes Czech, Russian, French and English, all languages she speaks fluently.

Martin volunteered to be rat lab. He was supposed to draw what love means for him. Here you have the masterpiece.



I have to admit this made me really confused. I understand the concept behind the circle, no beginning and no end. But the arrows according to Martin, represent people. People running in opposite directions that will eventually meet each other and… crash leaving behing a bloddy mess or a cloud of ashes? Or they will run past each other forever and ever, without finding their other half? Whatever the alternative, something is very wrong in his head.

And now, as usual, I wonder. Is it a Czech thing or a men thing? Therefore, I asked our friend what other people drew. Apparently, women tend to draw more figurative items, the tipycal stuff; hands held together, two people, hearts and the like. What about men? Here are some examples:



I think I got my answer.