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Men Have More Fun Hanging Out With Men Than Their Girlfriend, Study Claims

Men Have More Fun Hanging Out With Men Than Their Girlfriend, Study Claims

The study questioned 30 sports undergraduates at a British university

James Dawson

James Dawson

A new study appears to have confirmed that blokes would like their lives to be more like the Hangover than When Harry Met Sally - saying they have more fun hanging out with their mates than they do their girlfriends.

Scientists reckon that modern men have got rid of their macho image and are prepared to embrace their emotions, saying they find close friendships (or 'bromances') with other men more satisfying than those with wives and girlfriends

The study questioned 30 sports undergraduates at a British university on how they compare their experiences of bromances to that of their romantic relationships.

Results showed men found it easier to open up and express their feelings to their bromances, more so than their romances.

Credit: Buena Vista Television

They felt less 'judged' and less likely to be 'nagged' than by their girlfriends and also more able to express their feelings. In fact this news follows on from the story of a British man who got so tired of his wife's complaining that he left her to go live in the woods.

Scientists said the increasingly intimate, emotive and trusting nature of bromances offered young men a new social space for emotional disclosure, outside of traditional heterosexual relationships.

He said: "That study showed that young men openly pronounce love for their bromances and engage in highly intimate behaviours, both emotionally and physically, which have until recently been socially prohibited in same-sex male friendships.

"In this article, we examine whether close male friendships have the capacity to rival the intimacy and affection traditionally reserved for romantic, heterosexual relationships."

He explained: "The level of physical and emotional intimacy expressed between heterosexual young men is dependent on a number of socio-historical variables" and "homosocial intimacy flourished before the modern era."

Credit: FOX

The findings showed how men who would once have avoided showing their emotions to their male friends for being labelled as gay has been cast aside.

Adam White, a postgraduate qualitative researcher at the University of Winchester said a recent study analysed straight undergraduate men's perspectives on a bromance.

He said that in the late 19th and early 20th century men could be open about their friendships with men but growing homophobia from the 1970s and the AIDS crisis curtailed this.

He said: "In this epoch, straight men began to fear being homosexualised for displaying physical or emotional intimacy."

They regulated their behaviour and judged their friendship with other men when they engaged in activities together, like playing sports, drinking, fixing things, or gambling.

Women on the other hand generally 'maintained friendships through sharing emotions and disclosing secrets'.

White added that there has been 'decreasing homohysteria' and young teenage boys do not aspire to be Rambo but instead 'prefer the feminised charms and homosocial tactility of the members of the boy band One Direction, or popular YouTube vloggers or the intellect, financial success and charity of Bill Gates'.

This has been helped by a new generation of buddy movies such as 21 Jump Street, Due Date and The 40-Year Old Virgin.

Featured Image Credit: Columbia Pictures

Topics: Study, Research