Friendship Between Men And Women: An Evolutionary Psychology Perspective

Friendship plays an important role in human being's survival and reproduction from an evolutionary perspective. Friends may offer us food and shelter or take care of us when we are in trouble. Friends may introduce us to potential mates. Opposite-sex friends are different from same-sex friends as they could become our mates one day. Systematical research on opposite-sex friendship is still rare both domestic and abroad.The author hypothesized that both men and women have evolved psychological mechanisms in opposite-sex friendship including:(1)sex differences in perceived benefits and costs of same-sex and opposite-sex friendship and (2)sex differences in preferences of selecting a same-sex friend and an opposite-sex friend and (3)both men and women will benefit from acknowledging information about the opposite-sex. At last, the author wanted to find the boundary between opposite-sex friendship and love.A total of 416 participants finished the survey. Results supported several key hypotheses. Men perceived the potential of being mate as more beneficial than did women. Women reported receiving protection and resources from their opposite-sex friends as more beneficial than men. Both men and women reported getting information about the opposite-sex as one of the benefits. Single men preferred those more beautiful and hotter female friends and women showed more preferences on their male friends' intelligence, considerate and popularity. Experiencing sexual attraction and jealousy, wishing to get along with each other without others, and feeling unsure of the development of the relationship are the clues to discriminate opposite-sex friendship and love.