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Study

Men Are More Likely to Be Attracted to Their Taken Friends

C. Price

Written by: C. Price

C. Price

C. Price is part of DatingAdvice.com's content team. She writes advice articles, how-to guides, and studies — all relating to dating, relationships, love, sex, and more.

Edited by: Lillian Castro

Lillian Castro

Lillian Guevara-Castro brings more than 30 years of journalism experience to ensure DatingAdvice articles have been edited for overall clarity, accuracy, and reader engagement. She has worked at The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, The Gwinnett Daily News, and The Gainesville Sun covering lifestyle topics.

Reviewed by: Amber Brooks

Amber Brooks

Amber Brooks is the Editor-in-Chief at DatingAdvice.com. When she was growing up, her family teased her for being "boy crazy," but she preferred to think of herself as a budding dating and relationship expert. As an English major at the University of Florida, Amber honed her communication skills to write clearly, knowledgeably, and passionately about a variety of subjects. Now with over 1,800 lifestyle articles to her name, Amber brings her tireless wit and relatable experiences to DatingAdvice.com. She has been quoted as a dating expert by The Washington Times, Cosmopolitan, The New York Post, Bustle, Salon, Well+Good, and AskMen.

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Friendships between men and woman are often fraught with difficulties when attraction enters the picture.

However, research shows male and female friendships become even more unbalanced when existing romantic relationships are taken into consideration.

The study, which was conducted by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, consisted of 88 pairs of male and female friends.

Researchers split the men and women up and had them complete an identical questionnaire, which assessed their attraction to their friends and their satisfaction with their current relationship.

“Men are more likely to be attracted to female

friends whether one or both are in a relationship.”

Looking at the data, researchers found men (especially straight young men) are more likely to be attracted to their female friends, regardless of whether one or both of them are in a romantic relationship.

Conversely, women in existing romantic relationships are less likely to find their male friends attractive.

Both men and women felt this attraction was more of a problem than a benefit to the friendship.

Also, if an individual finds a friend attractive, they are more likely to feel dissatisfied with a current relationship and their romantic partner is likely to feel jealous of the friendship in question.

Source: Bleske-recheck.com.