Have you ever thought about whether a man and a woman can really maintain only a friendly relationship? Or have you ever felt that your friend might feel more than just friendship?
The question of whether a man and a woman can be just friends is anything but simple. Some believe that this is entirely possible. While others fear that a friendship might turn into a romantic relationship or that inappropriate emotions might develop.
A man and a woman can only be friends, regardless of their gender or sexual orientation, as long as each other's boundaries and wishes are respected. If one does not try to impose emotions or relationships that the other person does not want.
The research she conducted University of Wisconsin, USA, sought to determine whether heterosexual men and women can be just friends, or whether there is always some level of romantic attraction between them.
For this purpose, they analyzed the answers of 88 pairs of friends to find out how they perceive their friendship.
They found that men were much more attracted to female friends than the other way around. Men often overestimated the level of attraction felt by female friends. Women, however, consistently underestimated the level of attraction their friends felt.
Men were also willing to act on a misunderstood mutual attraction.
Although research has shown that heterosexual friendships between men and women can be complicated, there are many cases where friendships between the sexes are pure and platonic.
Men and women can have very different views of what it means to be "just friends". These different views can cause problems. While women seem sincere in their belief that opposite-sex friendships are platonic, men tend to be unable to quench their desire for something more.
