Can You Turn a Friend into a Lover?

When it comes to relationships, everyone's got a preference. A poll, conducted by Meetville.com (dating app to find the right person) between 2/3/14 and 8/22/14, posed the following question: “To seduce or to be friends first?”

Public opinion split up, with 49% willing to avoid the friend zone and 51% considering it essential to become friends first.

The total number of participants was 139,332. From the USA - 74%, from Canada - 2%, from Britain - 7%, from Australia - 4% and from other countries - 13%

A social psychologist, Dr. Grace Cornish, believes both situations have their pros, cons, and some similarities. “For some attraction must always be present and must always come prior to any romantic connection. However, all too often, early relationship success is measured on whether or not there is intense chemistry. So when you think of the happiest couples, most cite friendship as the number one reason for their joy and success. It really depends upon the person and their preference.”

The poll results also revealed that men find it harder to hide their true intentions. Among those who were in favor of seduction, 59% of votes were male, 41% - female.

According to Alex Cusper, Meetville service analyst, men and women have vastly different views of what it means to be “just friends” and these differing views have the potential to lead to trouble. Although women seem to be genuine in their belief that opposite-sex friendships are platonic, men seem unable to turn off their desire for something more.

Meetville, a leading mobile dating service, regularly conducts research among its users. Millions of people from the U.S., Canada, Britain and Australia answer hundreds of questions every month. You can find the results of the poll here. If you are interested in research on a particular topic, please contact us. Any reprint of the material should be followed by clickable links to the survey.