What do young men think friendships with women would do for them?
58%
58% of young single men believe men with close female friends are better at understanding women.
n = 7,014 single US men aged 18-35 · Fielded 2026 · Cherry Data Signals
Breakdown
Men with close female friends understand women better58%
Female friends would make dating less intimidating46%
Would find it hard to keep a close friendship with a woman they were attracted to39%
Have mistaken a woman's friendliness for romantic interest33%
0%50%100%
Multiple responses possible; figures do not sum to 100.
What it means
Most see the benefit clearly. Around four in ten also name the thing that gets in the way.
Methodology
- Sample
- 7,014
- Population
- single US men aged 18-35
- Country
- United States
- Fielded
- 2026
- Research by
- Cherry Data Signals
- Study
- The female friend gap
Cite this statistic
Cherry Data Signals (2026). "What do young men think friendships with women would do for them?" Survey of 7,014 single US men aged 18-35, United States. https://cherrysignals.com/statistics/what-young-men-think-about-friendships-with-women
Free to reproduce with attribution to Cherry Data Signals and a link to this page.
Related statistics
- How many young single men have no female friends?60%
- How many young men have given up trying to find a partner?73%
- Do men without female friends want them?44%
- Why do young men have no female friends?34%
- How do dating apps affect how young men feel about dating?52%
- Why don't young men meet women offline?48%
- How often do content professionals cite original research?82%
- Why do writers include research in content?41%
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