London, May 5 (IANS) It is normal to have friendships with the opposite sex and despite most people swearing it to be platonic, a new study has suggested almost always there exists an attraction between male and female friends.
And, the most common cost of these friendships could be dissatisfaction with current romantic partners, the study has suggested.
Researchers from University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire also found that in a test group of 400 adults, if there were feelings of attraction expressed from only one member of the friendship, it was most often from the man, Daily Mail reported.
Because platonic inter-sex relationships are a relatively new concept in the history of human evolution, men are still controlled by their mating instincts, says April Bleske-Rechek, the study’s lead author.
The study’s findings have been reported in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.
Results of the study showed that men more frequently admitted getting drawn to their women friends while also overestimating their friend’s romantic feelings towards them.
While women were less likely to fancy their friends or assume that the males had those kinds of feelings for them, the study revealed.
