Posted February 3, Reviewed by Abigail Fagan. When you imagine people falling in love , how do you see it happening? Specifically, do you imagine two strangers falling in love after going out on a few dates? Or two friends gradually developing romantic feelings for each other?
More generally, do you think the majority of people who become romantically involved started dating as strangers or after forming a friendship first? The study , in press in Social Psychological and Personality Science , is detailed below. The authors searched online databases for studies on relationship initiation. Simply put, the majority of studies emphasized romantic relationships formed between strangers.
The authors found similar results in their second investigation, which examined the cited literature in two commonly taught textbooks on intimate relationships. The percentages of friends-first initiation were also higher in married couples particularly those under 30 years of age and in same- gender or queer relationships.
Again, this was even more prevalent among queer and same-gender couples. To learn more about the nature of friends-first romantic initiation, a final investigation was conducted.
They were asked to indicate the best way to find dates by selecting from a list of options: blind dates, a friendship naturally turning romantic, mutual friends, school, parties, workplace, church, family connections, bar, social media , dating services, etc.
