Are platonic relationships between men and women possible? Adrian F. Ward reported on a study that tried to answer the question:

• Males are more likely to believe that there is the potential for romantic involvement with a ‘friend’ than females.
• Males are also likely to overestimate the amount of romantic attraction that the female friend has for them. Females on the other hand thought that the lack of romantic attraction was mutual.
• In the cases where a female is attracted to a male friend, females are unlikely to pursue anything if they know their friend is already in a relationship. Males are less likely to allow pesky things such as existing relationships dissuade them from trying to be more than just friends.
• As males age they become even more likely to rate “romantic attraction” as a benefit of opposite sex friendships.

Read more about the methodology of the study and its conclusions over here.

Source: Scientific American