Are friendships underrated?

Friendship is the one of the most underrated and least celebrated forms of relationships. In many ways friendship is an organic and effortless process which can spring out of nowhere but like all great things it needs to be watered and nurtured to become even better and stronger.

How long is average friendship?

Maintaining a lifelong friendship isn’t easy. In fact, a 2009 Dutch study found that a large majority of friendships only last about seven years. Like any relationship, friendships take work if you want them to last.

What is the average friendship?

According to a 2004 Gallup poll, Americans have an average of 8-9 close friends. More specifically: 2\% have no close friends. 14\% have 1-2 close friends.

How long does a friendship usually last?

Can there be platonic friendships?

Yes. Platonic friendship is possible and can be very beneficial. The definition of platonic is an intimate, close friendship without sex. Usually, the term ‘platonic friendship’ is used to talk about a friendship between members of the opposite sex, but it can also be used to talk about same-sex friendships too.

Are friendships transient and dispensable?

And friendships are transient. You quickly become dispensable if the other person moves abroad, starts a new relationship, has a child or decides to adjust their life priorities. You might get the occasional “like” on Facebook, but that’s it.

Are friends just there to fill the empty hours?

A young colleague with Die Zeit recently wrote a long ode to friendship: “Since more and more young people are freeing themselves from the dictatorship of couplehood, and decide to live alone, friends are not just there to fill the empty hours or function as agony aunts,” the piece reads.

What percentage of people you consider as your friends reciprocate?

According to this study, only 50\% of the people you consider as your friends reciprocate that feeling. There has rarely been a psychology study with findings so surprisingly sad. This usually doesn’t happen in romantic relationships or marriages. You usually at least know if you are in a relationship or not.

Why is it so hard to ask someone if they’re friends?

That may be due to the lack of any sort of binding friendship rituals beyond the age of 16. You cannot just ask the other person if you are friends now. Unless you are on Facebook and everyone knows how much an accepted Facebook friendship invitation is worth: virtually zilch.