Men are more likely to be sexually attracted to their opposite sex friends

Here’s a quick quiz: If you were asked to think of a friend of the opposite sex, would you picture a bud that you actually hang out with regularly, or the hottest person you’re friendly with? If you’re a dude, according to a new study, you’re more likely to go with the latter.

Published in Evolutionary Psychological Science and lead-authored by April Bleske-Rechek at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, the study found that guys are more likely to define a female friend as “a member of the opposite sex to whom I am attracted and would pursue given the opportunity” and ladies to define their opposite-sex friends as simply “a friend of the opposite sex.”

Bleske-Rechek, who says that the opposite-sex just-friendships are “a bit of an evolutionary novelty” for young adults, wanted to replicate a finding from earlier studies on the relationship type. In multiple studies, men report having greater attraction to their opposite-sex friends than women do.