If you like the idea of being loved by your friends, now might be the time to stop reading. In a study published in the journal PLOS ONE in March 2016, only 53% of the study participants' friendships were reciprocal. Does that mean that almost half of the people you call your friends don't even like you? Not entirely.
The study had participants rank people on a 0-5 scale, where zero meant they didn't know the other person and five meant the person was a best friend. A score of three was the minimum number required to consider the relationship a friendship. Once a participant scored a person on this scale, they also wrote down what they thought the other person scored them. In 93% of the cases, the person predicted they'd receive the same score from someone as they scored that person. In only 53% of the cases were friendships scored 3 or above on both sides. According to the study authors, "These findings suggest a profound inability of people to perceive friendship reciprocity, perhaps because the possibility of non-reciprocal friendship challenges one's self-image." Learn more about friendships below.