Research suggests that only half of your friends actually like you

The more people we meet, the more we forget the true meaning of the word “friend”. Reason with us: how many of your acquaintances can you call “real friends”? And do they reciprocate that feeling? One study says that the chances are slim and are only around 50%.

O awesome.club tried to find out why this happens and rescued what makes a friendship worthwhile.

The study followed 600 students who were asked to analyze their friendships, and the results were pretty depressing. Only 53% of the relationships were mutual, while the other students found themselves in “one-sided” friendships, that is, they were not reciprocated.

One of the researchers believes these results show that people are generally “bad at judging who their true friends are”. He also added that the more friendships you have, the less likely you are to be called “best friend” by someone.

We cannot have meaningful relationships with all of our friends, and this is a simple fact that we must accept. As we age, we accumulate more acquaintances, and if you have trouble cutting ties with people, you may feel overwhelmed by your social connections.

But why do we make so many friends? Is it just a need we have to maintain an emotional relationship? In fact, some experts believe that by getting lots of “semi-friends” we are protecting ourselves from being misled by false expectations. We don’t invest as much time and effort in, say, five friends as we would in two. So we won’t be so disappointed when we lose one or feel betrayed by another.

Still, we’re too busy trying to be around so many different people. Having too many friends can have the complete opposite effect and result in feelings of loneliness, anxiety and even an increased chance of death.

Friendships can change or destroy someone. True friendships can be very beneficial to our mental health, helping us to overcome personal problems, tragedies or simply offering a shoulder to cry on. We can expect this support only by creating a meaningful connection with someone and giving back as much as we are receiving.

One study also found that friendships can lower our chances of getting a chronic illness or having a stroke, which are often linked to anxiety and a feeling of isolation.

So… How do we know our friendships are true? There are many signs that can help you distinguish who has good intentions:

They’ve known each other for a while and have created many memories together;

They feel that they don’t need to have banal conversations;

Know each other’s family or private details (and keep them secret);

They help each other, without expecting anything in return;

They feel they can demand correct attitudes — not to tease — but to help the other person become a better person.

Your true friend doesn’t have to be someone you’ve known since childhood, it can be anyone who genuinely cares about your well-being in whatever situation you find yourself in.

How many close friends do you have? Comment!