C an two people have sex and still remain "just friends? That may seem fairly obvious. But the study, published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior , focused on why college students have these relationships at all.
Researchers from Wayne State University and Michigan State University asked undergraduates why they would or wouldn't have sex with a friend, and what the advantages or disadvantages would be. Two-thirds of participants said they had been in a "friends with benefits" relationship, and 36 percent said they currently were in one.
The main advantage of such a relationship was "no commitment" reported by More than half of those who had sex with a friend said they had engaged in all forms of sex; Bisson and Timothy R.
Levine, the study's lead researchers. The biggest reported disadvantage of this recreational sex was the possibility that feelings would develop Other worries included "harm friendship" Concern over pregnancy and STDs, listed as "negative consequences of sex," came in at only 9.
The second part of the study asked 90 college students - all of whom had been in at least one "friends with benefits" relationship - what sorts of questions came up once they began sleeping with their friend, and how they went about answering those questions. While approximately half admitted to having questions of uncertainty in the relationship, The findings hardly indicate that people have evolved to the point where "friends with benefits" relationships will replace traditional romantic couplings, Levine tells LiveScience.
