As Briondre Hill leans in to talk to his prospective suitors, he hopes they smell his cologne. As the cooler and crisper season of fall comes around, he wears Layton by Parfums De Marly.

The scent is warm, spicy, and has a tang to it as well, kind of like green apples.

“It’s easy on the nose,” Hill said. “I think girls might like it.”

Hill, a 19-year-old resident of Pawnee, hopes the scent will find him a date.

Just like other singles in and around the Springfield area, Hill is hoping to find a significant other to stay inside with during colder weather, during what many refer to as “cuffing season.”

Beth Ribarsky, a professor of communications at the University of Illinois Springfield, says it is a real dating phenomenon.

“Cuffing season is something that kind of arose from popular culture,” Ribarksy said. “It really is this inclination that people have to find romantic partners, typically in more of the winter seasons.”

Ribarsky, whose research is focused on communication in romantic relationships, believes there are many reasons to date during cuffing season. But the two main reasons are loneliness and societal pressure.

“We know that seasonal depression is an actual thing that people go through,” Ribarksy said. “People inherently feel a little bit more lonely. And so it’s not unusual for them to want to seek out somebody else to be able to match up with.”

Loneliness and societal pressure may be a motivator for single people to get into relationships during cuffing season. But for some, that may not be the case.

In an unscientific online survey conducted for this story, nearly 60% of respondents in and around the Springfield area said “companionship” would motivate them to seek a relationship during cuffing season, Although, 30% said loneliness would still be their motivation.

“I feel like a lot of people get into relationships because they are lonely,” said Reagan Wilson, a 22-year-old Springfield resident working at a local bar. “And then when the summer comes, then it’s like, hot girl summer, I want to do me. So I do feel like some of them can end.”

Like Wilson, 40% of respondents did not believe cuffing season relationships would still be together once warmer weather returns.

Ribarsky said one of the reasons cuffing season relationships might not last is because the people entering the relationships are not communicating their expectations.

“Sometimes I will see people go in with the intention of casually dating and the other person believes that they are not casually dating, that it’s something more serious, and there ends up being, ultimately, a heartbreak or disappointment or hurt that happens in those situations,” Ribarksy said.

Although the odds may not be in favor of cuffing season relationships, people are still interested in getting into relationships during the upcoming colder months.

More than 70% of respondents in the unscientific survey said they were likely to start a relationship during cuffing season.

For those people, the key may be a good first date. The majority of respondents, 60%, said something seasonal, such as a visit to a pumpkin patch or an apple orchard, would be the best date during cuffing season.

But before taking a date to the pumpkin patch or apple orchard, Ribarsky advises singles to always reflect on past relationships before entering a new one and be self-aware of their needs.

“We can’t look for somebody else to provide us happiness,” Ribarksy said. “We have to be able to provide that happiness for ourselves.”

Michael Mollsen is a graduate student in the UIS Public Affairs Reporting program.