What is platonic friendship?

Platonic friendship is conceived as a relationship between two people that can last a lifetime.. According to some experts, it becomes a pure, lasting friendship that usually lasts over time.

Sometimes, platonic friendship can be confused with other types of terms. It is the example of romantic or sentimental relationships. Although platonic friendship can lead to a romance due to the mutual attraction of the two people, it is not an essential requirement. What’s more, with the development of a romance, we would stop talking about platonic friendship.

Platonic friendship and its characteristics

Platonic friendship is defined by a close relationship between two people who might be attracted to each other. The complicity and harmony reaches a degree such that Looking at this relationship it could even seem like a couple’s relationship.

As mentioned in previous lines, it should not be confused with a relationship. Platonic friendship has a certain degree of commitment, affection, and time together like any other degree of friendship. However, platonic friendship satisfies an important social need without a sexual component.

Characteristics

The characteristics of a platonic friendship could be summarized as follows:

Other people often confuse this type of friendship as a relationship. In fact, acquaintances may ask on more than one occasion if they are a couple or have some other type of romantic relationship. The origin of a platonic friendship can be based from childhood.Also, they may have originated after an unsuccessful attempt at a romantic relationship. It is likely that, if one of the members has a partner, they have been the object of jealousy. It is uncomfortable to think about the other person in a sexual way.

This type of friendship represents one of the most authentic friendshipsfinding harmony with another person and showing the kindest side of a social relationship.

However, this also has other types of consequences if one of the two people has a partner.. Inevitably, this type of relationship tends to cause discomfort to their partners. Frequently, people who establish this type of friendship have to explain to their partners about the friendship that unites that other person outside the romantic relationship.

What are the limits?

Platonic friendship indicates, as has been mentioned, a relationship between two people in which the romantic and sexual component does not exist.

In some cases, this friendship can exceed the limits established from the beginning (that is, the beginning of any type of romance due to the degree of complicity, intimacy and possible physical attraction). In any case, if the friendship turns into a romance, we would be talking about other types of friendship.

The degree of commitment is understood as the willingness of both members to establish a relationship since, regardless of the degree of attraction, both members do not have to seek a romantic relationship. If a consensus is not reached from the beginning, the friendship relationship may be in danger.

What if these limits of platonic friendship are exceeded?

The fear of ruining a friendship by crossing these boundaries does not have to be an impediment if expectations are aligned. It is true that One of the phenomena that can occur, if this relationship is unsuccessful, is that trust is lost. and, in the worst case, they become complete strangers.

However, this does not mean that the relationship has no chance of being saved or of recovering a point of balance that makes the friendship last over time. This adjustment is possible when a consensus is reached on the limits of the relationship and on the account of what happened in the past.

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