Why Friends with Benefits Relationship Is a Risky Affair

More and more people would like to have friends with benefits relationships (FWBR). This was discovered by Meetville (dating app to find the right person) over a survey, conducted between 09/19/14 and 11/10/14.

The question posed in the poll was “Is it OK to be friends with benefits?” Overwhelming majority support this idea, although experts find this type of relationships very tricky and difficult to maintain.

The total number of participants was 38,206. From the USA - 55%, from Canada 4%, from Britain - 13%, Australia – 8% and other countries – 20%.

Lately scientists and researchers have been interested in this issue as FWBR gain popularity among people. Numerous researches and articles highlight what are the reasons for FWBR, how these relationships start and why they usually fail. In a series of interviews with 25 university students, communications professor Kendra Knight, PhD, conducted aqualitative study of how communication — or, more accurately, a lack thereof — plays into FWBRs. Most of them explained that a FWBR can be enticing because it seemingly requires less emotional effort than an actual relationship. One interviewee stated specifically, "You're not supposed to work at it." Dr. Knight found that when someone does try to have a conversation with their FWB, they usually get shut down — or the FWB gets defensive and tries to shame the other person into ending the talk prematurely.

As far as the society opinion is concerned the statistics reveals that among those who answered “Yes” the votes distributed in the following way: Male - 81% and Female -19%.

Popular blogger Yu-Kym claims “Most men would think that having a purely sexual relationship with a female friend without the trappings of commitment is a dream come true.”

Alex Cusper, Meetville service analyst, relates the figures to the fact that men and women view friends with benefits relationships differently. Men tend to enjoy the benefits more than the friendship while women appreciate friendship more than all possible benefits.

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.