By Julia Sutherlin // SWNS
Men have five “general” friends, three close friends and two best friends, on average, according to a recent study.
And while they’re comfortable calling their friends “bro” (33%), “brother/brotha” (26%) and “homie” (21%), only a few (6%) would say they have a “bestie” according to results.
However, the survey of 2,000 American men found that more than a third (35%) have a “friend crush” on someone they want to be friends with, with Gen Z (49%) being most likely to say this.
Commissioned by Talkspace and conducted by Talker Research, the study took a comprehensive snapshot of male friendship, bonding, mental health and even how men define masculinity in honor of Men’s Health Awareness Month or “Movember”.
Looking at the time investment in friendships, respondents said they spend nearly four hours connecting with their friends per week, on average.
Of this time, 52 minutes are spent texting, 42 minutes talking on the phone, 39 minutes DMing on social media and 94 minutes are spent hanging out in person, on average, per week.
With their friends, Gen Z (54%) and millennials (47%) spend the most time playing video games together, Gen X (42%) and baby boomers (36%) prefer to watch sports with their guy friends and The Silent Generation opt to go to restaurants together (31%).
One in five (18%) also said they talk about different things with their male friends now compared to five years ago.
And while some might guess sports or work as popular topics, it goes deeper these days and the common topics of conversation between guy friends are hobbies (37%), religion and spirituality (30%) and life plans (31%).
Most men (64%) said they can share their deepest feelings with their male friends with Gen Z (70%) and millennials (73%) feeling the most comfortable doing so.
And many of those with a partner confessed they’re often (23%) or sometimes (38%) able to share more openly about themselves with their male friends than their partner.
When it comes to who they’re confiding in, the men surveyed confide most in friends they made in high school (29%).
However, there are demographic differences: Gen Z (40%), millennials (34%) and Gen X (32%) all share most openly with high school friends while baby boomers (28%) and The Silent Generation (21%) share most intimately with friends they met through work.
Looking at how friendships evolve over the years, more than a third of men reported they have fewer friends now compared to five years ago (39%), although a quarter say that the quality of friendship now is higher (27%).
However, a fifth (19%) also disclosed they feel lonely at least once per day.
Along with that, few (17%) feel their social lives are extremely fulfilling, with baby boomers feeling the least fulfilled socially (10%) and millennials feeling the most satisfied (22%).
“With this research, we wanted to examine the ins and outs of male friendship in 2024,” said Katelyn Watson, chief marketing officer at Talkspace. “And while it’s amazing to see that the majority of men are comfortable confiding their most intimate feelings to their friends, there’s still a lot of progress to be made when it comes to addressing loneliness, across all generations and whether you’re 18 or 80. It’s so important that men foster connections with each other as much as possible, especially in person.”
On the topic of masculinity, honesty and loyalty top the list of traits considered most masculine. Gen Z (42%), baby boomers (61%) and The Silent Generation (70%) said honesty is the most masculine trait while millennials (48%) and Gen X (57%) believe it’s loyalty.
But, last on the list is vulnerability, with only 12% of men identifying it as a “masculine” character trait.
That belief corresponds with the fact that most men surveyed (58%) have never been to therapy and of those, most (57%) are not open to going in the future.
Despite this therapy hesitancy, a notable number (26%) said they’ve been inspired by a famous figure to take care of their mental health.
Sources of inspiration noted in the survey include Michael Phelps, Denzel Washington, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and Robin Williams and Oprah Winfrey.
Michael Phelps, long-time mental health advocate, underscored the importance of friendships saying: “Check in on your friends. Being able to provide a space for honest conversations and vulnerability is key to better mental health."
Survey methodology:
Talker Research surveyed 2,000 American adult men; the survey was commissioned by Talkspace and administered and conducted online by Talker Research between Oct. 2 and Oct 7, 2024.
We are sourcing from a non-probability frame and the two main sources we use are:
- Traditional online access panels — where respondents opt-in to take part in online market research for an incentive
- Programmatic — where respondents are online and are given the option to take part in a survey to receive a virtual incentive usually related to the online activity they are engaging in
Those who did not fit the specified sample were terminated from the survey. As the survey is fielded, dynamic online sampling is used, adjusting targeting to achieve the quotas specified as part of the sampling plan.
Regardless of which sources a respondent came from, they were directed to an Online Survey, where the survey was conducted in English; a link to the questionnaire can be shared upon request. Respondents were awarded points for completing the survey. These points have a small cash-equivalent monetary value.
Cells are only reported on for analysis if they have a minimum of 80 respondents, and statistical significance is calculated at the 95% level. Data is not weighted, but quotas and other parameters are put in place to reach the desired sample.
Interviews are excluded from the final analysis if they failed quality-checking measures. This includes:
- Speeders: Respondents who complete the survey in a time that is quicker than one-third of the median length of interview are disqualified as speeders
- Open ends: All verbatim responses (full open-ended questions as well as other please specify options) are checked for inappropriate or irrelevant text
- Bots: Captcha is enabled on surveys, which allows the research team to identify and disqualify bots
- Duplicates: Survey software has “deduping” based on digital fingerprinting, which ensures nobody is allowed to take the survey more than once
It is worth noting that this survey was only available to individuals with internet access, and the results may not be generalizable to those without internet access.