KeiS a medical professional

This is a blog about the scientific basis of medicine. A judo therapist reads research papers for study and writes about them.

sponsorlink

HOME/psychology/

Study Finds Friends-to-Lovers Preferred for Romantic Relationships.

Monday, July 12, 2021

psychology

Study Finds Friends-to-Lovers Preferred for Romantic Relationships

Friends to lovers: popularized, favored, and overlooked by science

https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506211026992

Commentary

This study examines a type of romance that occurs among friends that has not been examined in research on relationships.

The authors found that most studies published in popular journals (Study 1) and cited in popular textbooks (Study 2) focus overwhelmingly on relationships that occur between strangers. This limited focus may lead to encounters as friends being viewed as undesirable with regard to romantic relationships.

A meta-analysis of seven samples of college students and crowdsourced adults (Study 3; N= 1,897), found that two-thirds reported friend-first initiation and that friend-first initiation is the preferred initiation method among college students. (Study 4)

This study confirms that starting a romantic relationship with a friend is the most common and preferred way to start a romantic relationship. Possible reasons for this oversight are explained, and implications for the dominant theories of relationship initiation are discussed.

QooQ