Friends​​​​​ ​​With Benefits

You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours, right?

- Lucy Devine

She’s great, but only in small doses’. Sound familiar? We’ve all got that one friend who’s just a little bit…intense? Great for a night out, but for a whole weekend? At the very least there’s a chance we’d still be nursing a hangover two weeks later. According to research, unsurprisingly, we choose our mates based on common interest. Growing up in the same postcode, choosing the same career, having a soft spot for all day bottomless brunch, for example.

In a study earlier this year, researchers found that we are more genetically similar to our mates than we are to random individuals. We attract like-for-like based on shared characteristics – and more often than not, these characteristics can be traced back to genetics. So sister-from-another-mister is actually, pretty accurate. Sure, we have those mates who are like family or the ones we’ve known forever, but through school, university, travelling and work, we make other mates, not all of them our closest – but they have all got their plus points. While we all might admit to having a go-to friend for different moods, have we taken it a step further? Are we (gulp) befriending for benefits? Want a hairstylist on tap? Befriend one. Need a wardrobe MOT? Buddy-up with a stylist.

‘I know if I want a crazy night out I’ll always call my friend Megan,’ says 28-year-old Lizzie*. ‘Although she’s not one of my closest friends (we’d never go on holiday or even have a chilled night in together) but she’s my go-to for a night out – and she knows all the club promoters, so we often get free entry.’