THIS IS THE REASON WHY FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN OFTEN DOESN'T WORK

A random Friday night. I'm sitting on the couch with a friend and the conversation is about all the men we were ever close friends with, but with whom the friendship ultimately fell apart. “In the end, they all want just one thing,” she sighs. “Honestly, has there ever been a guy in your life who lasted longer than a year who didn't secretly want more or was gay?”

Of course, I immediately know what she's talking about. When I look at the men I've interacted with in my life, I can't deny that the majority at that time were single or in a seriously dull relationship. Around the age of fifteen, I was not naive at all and just thought I had ‘a lot’ of male friends.

‘Women want to talk, while men want to do things’

But now. Stop. Research from the University of Oxford shows that there is (aside from the whole sexual tension thing) another main reason why friendship between men and women often doesn't work so well. Why? We both have a very different view of what friendship is. That alone sounds like asking for trouble.

The biggest difference? Women want to talk, while men want to do things. “Yeah, yeah, ‘do’ things. Literally do, right,” I can already hear friend E shouting. But really, that difference between doing and talking turns out to be quite significant. That's why women are often friends with people who take the time to talk to them (read: other women), while men tend to gravitate towards other men because then things get done. God, we finally figured that out too. With our heartfelt thanks to the Brits.