If two men happen to look at the same woman with interest, there’s a chance their friendship is doomed. New research shows that men are more likely to be friends with one another if they don’t share the same taste in women. Interestingly, the same isn’t true for women, according to the study published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships .
“It comes as a surprise to absolutely no one that men are competitive and territorial — it is the large amount of testosterone in them that drives them to aggression,” relationship expert Dr. Callisto Adams told The Toronto Sun. Researchers recruited 38 straight college students who hailed from Southern California — 20 male, 18 female.
They were shown 20 photos of the opposite sex — 10 celebrities, 10 strangers — and asked to rank them from most to least attractive. The group also took part in separate three-hour “speed-friending” sessions, where each participant met and interacted with each other for three minutes. They were then asked to complete a survey, and the researchers noticed the men were more likely to have a higher “friendship attraction” with males who did not share their taste in women.
The same trend was not observed in the female participants. “This study provides the first evidence that men’s mate preferences may influence their attitudes towards new potential friends at zero-acquaintance,” lead researcher Kelly Campbell said. Adams likened it to hunting in different territorie.
