About two thirds of the couples originate from a friendship. The platonic phase that precedes can last for a long period of time before the spark skips. In the friendzone landing isn’t so bad after all. That’s according to a new study from the University of Victoria in Canada.
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A team of scientists led by Danu Anthony Stinson, senior lecturer in the university’s psychology department, surveyed 1,900 people. Among them were both university students and adults. About 680 participants were married or legally cohabiting. The question everyone was asked? Whether they were friends with their partner before getting into a romantic relationship.
Most participants — 68 percent to be exact — reported that their current or most recent romantic relationship started out as a friendship. The percentage was slightly higher among those under 20 and those within the LGBTQ+ communities, where 85 percent of couples said friendship turned into a relationship.
How a platonic relationship suddenly becomes romantic in nature is vague. “There’s a huge, messy and blurry line between friendship and romance… It highlights how you really can’t define for someone else what a friendship or romance is,” said Stinson. From the study, published in the journal Social psychological and personality science, it turns out that the friendly introduction phase lasts on average 22 months. Almost half of the people surveyed thought friendship was an excellent basis for starting a romantic relationship.
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