In friendship relationships, men tend to have a more "sexual interest" towards women, and they are also more likely to overestimate the woman's favorability towards them. In most cases, sexual attraction is a burden rather than a benefit in friendships. Can there be pure friendship between men and women? Recent studies have shown that this is indeed possible.
Can male and female students go alone to eat, go shopping, watch movies, go to amusement parks, or visit each other's accommodation, but "just friends"? Recent research suggests that this is indeed possible. But men tend to have more 'interest' in women. In addition, having a partner who is still single does not affect the degree of being attracted to friends of the opposite sex.
Can there be pure friendship between men and women? Recent studies have shown that this is indeed possible, but in relationships with friends, men tend to have more "sexual interest" towards women, and men are also more likely to overestimate their partner's favorability towards them. In most cases, sexual attraction is a burden rather than a benefit in friendships.
The author of the paper, psychologist April Bleske Rechek from the University of Wisconsin in the United States, stated that she believes that men and women do indeed want to become simple friends, but the data shows that heterosexual charm does indeed blend in.
Evolutionary psychologists usually focus on sexual or family relationships, which can help transmit an individual's genes. What Aproli and her colleagues are interested in is how heterosexuality men and women deal with possible sexual attraction in the process of establishing pure friendship.
In a study published on April 25th in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, scientists recruited 88 pairs of heterosexual friends of the age group of college students to conduct a survey. Participants individually answered questions about their friendship, including their level of attraction to the other party. Participants are required not to ask each other for answers after the experiment is over.
The results show that men are more attracted to women. Researchers suggest that overestimating a woman's interest in herself is a common occurrence in men. Are you interested in female friends or would you consider dating them? For this point, the tendency of single men is the same as that of men who already have girlfriends. For women with boyfriends, the situation is similar, but fewer are willing to date male friends.
In order to expand the scope of the survey beyond the scope of the school, the researchers also asked 107 young people (18-23 years old) and 322 adults (27-55 years old). The number of heterosexual friends among older adults is lower than that of the youth group. Everyone believes that heterosexual friendship is very beneficial, but nearly half of young people also say that the charm of the opposite sex in friendship is a troublesome thing.
Researchers say this discovery cannot be interpreted as the inability of pure friendship between men and women. It is possible to be 'friends only', but we may have to overcome the nature brought about by human evolutionary history. The modern social environment is changing rapidly, and we have many new opportunities to meet and get along with friends of the opposite sex, which may not have been the case in the past. We still need some time to adapt.