Friends With Benefits

Friends with Benefits
Tyler Hart
Interpersonal Communication
Alexandria Technical College

The implications of not discussing a complicated relationship like friends-with-benefits would have to be a known lack of communication, and a “no promises” based relationship. These implications can lead to many risks, uncertainties and problems later down the road. Some people can make it work, while most others tend to struggle and fail in the “no strings attached” aspect of a non-monogamous relationship.
The major risks involved with a broken and emotionless relationship are most defiantly heart break, uncertainties, trust issues, and complications, and it impacts the one or more people involved. These relationships can seriously damage a person and can impact later more serious string attached relationships. Humans as a basic definition are made to love, we all love something or someone and this is completely normal and human, it’s in our genetics. From the time we are born, we learn to love our mother because she provides us with nutrients, warmth and protection from the big bad world. We later learn to love our father just the same, because we learn he too is there for us. Women tend to prefer an actual commitment and tend to get hurt more often, young men on the other hand tend to favor the idea of casual “hook ups” and the reason behind it is the lack of commitment, and freedom behind it. The man also might have gotten hurt in past relationship and just isn’t ready to commit and love someone again.
When you take out the love aspect of any relationship, it also takes away anything to bind one another together, so when people try to go against the grain they tend to have many difficulties. But there are some benefits to having a friends-with-benefits relationship. For one it is cost effective, no nights out, dinners, or movies, which usually a gentleman would pay for. No need for manners or common curtesy because they’re not emotionally attached and it “shouldn’t matter”. No strings attached you can do whatever you want, without someone checking in on you or wondering what you are doing. This is why the rising popularity of friends with benefits is approaching in many different age groups. Limited research exists, what has been concluded suggests their popularity amongst college and university students. Research has found that approximately 50% to 60% of college students report involvement in at least one friend with benefits experience. College is recognized as a time to not only to focus on academics and work on your future, but there is also the expectation that students will engage in intimate relationships and experiment with different aspects of a mutual relationship.
Whether you choose to be in a single monogamous relationship with a mutual love, and a caring partner, with some basic strings attached, or you choose to be in a no strings attached, “friends with benefits” relationship. It really is up to the two people involved to establish mutual ground rules that they both agree upon. Both relationship paths present a person with different benefits and different complications, both having many to offer.

Resources: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/strictly-casual/201402/what-happens-after-friends-benefits http://sites.ewu.edu/easterneronline/2012/02/23/research-uncovers-the-truth-behind-friends-with-benefits/ https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/