9 Questions Men Have For Women Answered By Science

1. What€™s The Deal With The Friend Zone?

Oh, the friend zone. The bane of both men and women's lives since it was invented by neckbeards on the internet. The question of whether men and women can ever really be "just friends" has plagued the minds of romance novelists and Richard Curtis since time immemorial, and now scientists have gotten in on the act. Even though it seems demonstrably possible for men and women to do things like share elevators and go to the pub without accidentally and uncontrollably banging, the research seems to suggest that this is all an elaborate ruse to conceal the potent sexual tension just beneath the surface. To investigate the phenomenon of cross-gender friendships, researchers took 88 pairs of platonic opposite-gender friends, swore them to secrecy and questioned them separately about their relationship with the other person. They found that the men were more likely to be attracted to their female friends than the other way around. Interestingly, when both male and female participants were asked to guess how the other person felt about them, they rated the other's feelings as virtually identical to their own, as opposed to in response to the objective evidence. This discrepancy between the perceived relationship and reality may well lead to the "friend zone" phenomenon as, from the male perspective, it might look like the female is doing it "on purpose", whereas the female might be completely unaware of any romantic feelings in the first place. In addition to this, men were more likely to rate the statement €œour relationship could lead to romantic feelings€ as a positive, whereas women were five times more likely to think of it as a negative. The paper suggests this might have something to do with that driver of all evolutionary traits: Sex and babies. Biologically speaking, producing offspring is much more of an investment for women, what with the obligatory nine months gestation and risky birth, therefore they are programmed to be more choosy in their partners. Males, on the other hand, have more to gain from more indiscriminate mating. The blithe unawareness of each other's feelings, however, is just stupidity on both parts. Does science make you tingle in your special place? Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for plenty more.Want to write for WhatCulture Science? Click here to find out how you could get paid to write about what you love.