To say that women’s friendships tend to revolve around emotional conversations with another individual, while men prefer group scenarios and can only share their worries after a few pints is a sweeping generalisation. Yet a study by the University of Oxford concluded pretty much that: male friendships are more likely to flourish around a shared activity (hello Mamils), while women prefer intimate, one-to-one interactions.
Science hasn’t fully explained how much of our friendship styles are dictated by nature and nurture, but there are hints. Research by Dr Anna Machin, a renowned anthropologist and author of Why We Love, has found that women get more emotional connection from their female friends than from any male romantic partner.
