Study reveals why most men miss their close friends 03:42

Experts say friendships aren’t just about who you sit with at school or play on the same sports team. Friends are an important component of the human experience.

But research shows that forming and maintaining deep, meaningful friendships as adults is especially difficult for men.

According to a 2021 survey by the American Research Center, less than half of men report being satisfied with their friendship, and in the past week, nearly one-fifth, four in 10 women, say they have received emotional support from a friend.

Judy Yi-Chung Chu, who teaches a course on the psychological development of men at Stanford University in California, says the decline in friendships between men begins in mid to late adolescence and becomes more dramatic in adulthood. CNN.

And those who maintain friendships with other men say they tend to have lower levels of emotional intimacy than women.

“Men don’t start to shut down emotionally; A researcher and professor of applied psychology at New York University, Dr. Niobe Way says they are emotionally disconnected.

All humans have an innate ability and a desire to have close, emotionally close bonds with others. Chu noted that we need these relationships to survive in infancy and thrive as we age.

Research shows that close friendships protect our mental and physical health. A psychologist in Ridgewood, New Jersey, Dr. Frank Sileo says that men who prioritize these relationships struggle with loneliness, which is one of the most harmful things to human health.

Scientists point out that while many men now strive to eat right, exercise, succeed in their careers and raise children, men should also prioritize developing friendships in adulthood.

The first study on male friendship began in 1995.

“We are all born with two sides: the hard, firm and independent, and the soft, vulnerable and interdependent,” said Way, author of Deep Secrets: Boy Friendships and the Bonding Crisis.

According to Way, the hard side was masculine and inherently preferred, while the soft side was seen as feminine and less important.

The scientist points out that boys are receiving messages that growing up and “learning” means getting rid of this soft side – thinking that is harmful to them, as neuroscience, social science and developmental psychology have shown.

“We treat gender as feminine,” Chu said. “If it’s a woman’s job, it becomes a weakness or handicap for men to acknowledge that they need companionship.”

Sileo added that the gender characterization of these experiences had a clear impact on friendship-making.