We live in a society where we are increasingly independent, we look more and more at how many likes one of our Facebook posts has or how many virtual friends we have, rather than taking the time to have a coffee and talk to a friend. Friendship is more than a social network.
It seems that the friendship has become more unstable, easier to start and break, if I don’t like someone or suddenly I get angry, I block them on Facebook or WhatsApp and forget about them. lives and has friends related to a topic or activity (work, sport?) The truth is that true friendships, those of flesh and blood, we keep very little.
“Friendship is like music: two strings of the same note will vibrate together even if only one is touched.
-Francis Quarles-
It’s true that the concept of friendship has changed with new technologies, because you can even call a friend someone you don’t even know. The Internet, mobile phones, and all existing apps have created a new form of connection and a new concept of friendship.
Research conducted by scientists at the University of California, San Diego , USA. U. S. ) It has shown that not only do we have genetic similarities to our family members, but we also choose our DNA-based friendships.
The study analyzed the genetic similarities and link between different people through two independent health surveys, which contained detailed information on the different genomic sequences of individuals, as well as on their social networks.
“Being honest won’t make you have many friends, but it will always make you have good friends.
-John Lennon-
Specific genetic indicators of an individual’s social relationships were selected and we were found to befriend people with those with those we share two of the six indicators evaluated.
Another interesting aspect of the research is that it has been concluded that we look for people, both friends and love relationships, who complement us, that is, we are attracted to people who have genes that indicate characteristics that we do not have.
We have many ideas about friendship: that there is a special bond with our friends, that women and men cannot be friends, that a romantic relationship steals the place of friends, that friendship promotes health
That is, throughout our lives we assume a series of beliefs about friendship that may or may not be true, below we show some scientific truths about friendship that are directly related to the beliefs we have.
Do we all remember the famous scene of the film? Harry
Research conducted in 2012 and published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, led by April Bleske-Rechek, a psychology professor at the University of Wisconsin, found that men overestimate romantic chances more often than women.
The research also concluded that men are generally equally interested both sexually and emotionally by their friends, whether they are engaged or not. Attraction looks like an impulse, even if over the years it tends to decrease.
“There is something better between us than love: complicity
-Marguerite Yourcenar-
The research of Robin Dunbar, professor of evolutionary anthropology at Oxford, who examined the effect of romantic relationships on friends, concluded that people who start a romantic relationship, rather than having a close circle of friends made up of friends of five people like him. common, has four and one of them is his partner.
Therefore, this means that the attention is focused on the person who is the couple, to which more time and attention is devoted, and that two people in our lives are separated, usually a friend or family member.
Love takes time and we share more and more moments with our partner, so inevitably, if the emotional bond with our friends is not taken care of, we keep in touch, we try to meet, in the end it deteriorates.
A 70-year longevity survey conducted by Flinders University’s Centre for Aging Research in Adelaide, Australia, found that a network of good friends can increase longevity without family relationships.
Having friends is good not only for mood, but also for health, in fact, people who have a large circle of friends are the ones who have the least tension, suffer less stress, their immunity is stronger and live longer, friends help us overcome diseases and bring us satisfaction and happiness.