The BEST Way To Start a Romantic Relationship (The Data Says Do THIS!)

Did you know you have a better chance of entering into a relationship with someone that starts out as your friend compared to someone that you met randomly on the street, at a bar, or somewhere else?

It’s crazy to think that, but one research study showed that 68% of romantic relationships started out as friendships. So let’s dive into that research a little bit more to understand how you can have a better chance of dating someone you’re friends with.

When it comes to understanding intimacy, there are generally two types that are discussed: friendship-based and passion-based.

Friendship-based intimacy highlights the caring, compassionate, and nurturing parts of a relationship that allow people to form those long-term bonds, whereas passion-based intimacy really highlights the arousal, attraction, and sexual desire that brings those two people together.

The reason I share that fairly obvious distinction is that most of the research that has been done since the 1950s on dating and relationships tends to focus primarily on passion-based intimacy, largely negating the fact that a lot of people meet as friends before they actually start dating.

Not only does it tend to feed into this narrative that people meet as complete strangers, form an instant attraction, and start dating from there, but it feeds into the heterosexist archetype that men are always supposed to be bold, make their moves, and pronounce their affection for women, while women kind of stay back, make themselves more attractive, and wait for men to make the move. That’s not how a lot of relationships actually begin.

Granted, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be bold, courageous, and confident when it comes to approaching someone that you like. That’s advice I give to anyone, guy or girl, who likes someone and wants to start dating them. It also doesn’t mean you should sit back and wait for that person to approach you, hoping that they’re going to make the…