This Tuesday isn’t like any other Tuesday. It’s a day to hug those you’re close to and to tell them how grateful you are to have them in your life. This Tuesday, July 30th, is International Friendship Day. In preparation for the big holiday, our research asked Brits how they feel about their friends and what they value and look for in friendships.
Having friends is one thing, but having a best friend is another. We found that over half (59%) of Brits would consider at least one of their friends their ‘best friend,’ and it is actually most common to have 2 best friends. Friendship lasts a long time when there is a strong bond with 50% of Brits having been best friends with their #1 best friend for 20+ years. That’s quite a long time!
Friendship is something that people depend on and value throughout their day to day life, and the closer the friends the better. If given the choice, 80% of Brits would prefer to only have a few really close best friends compared to having a lot more distant friends. Quality over quantity, according to the research.
People tend to be friends with people they have commonalities with, and that includes gender. Two-thirds (66%) of Brits say that their friends are typically the same gender as them. Women significantly favour their friends to be the same gender with 73% saying that their friends are typically the same gender as them, compared to only 59% of men.
Those commonalities spread to attitude and interest as well, with Brits noting that they pick their friends based on who they get along with really well (77%) and who they have the similar interests with (57%). Would you say you do the same? What about what you value in terms of friendship?
The research found that Brits value traits like honesty (21%), loyalty (20%) and trustworthiness (19%) over other traits. Women value loyalty more than men, and men value honesty more than women, but they’re both 100% grateful for the friends in their life. After all good friend is like a four leaf-clover… hard to find and lucky to have. Here’s to our best friends, 4media group.
