An Australian study has found there is one trait which drastically increases a boy's chance of having close female relationships.
According to a study by the Australian Catholic University's Institute of Positive Psychology and Education, teenage boys who possess high levels of empathy are 1.8 times more likely to have close female friendships than their peers with low levels of empathy.
The study, which was published in the Journal of Personality, involved almost 2,000 Year 10 students across 16 high schools.
Participants were asked to rate their own empathy level through responding to a series of statements such as "when someone is feeling down, I can usually understand how they feel", and "I can often understand how people are feeling even before they tell me".
They were then asked to list their five closest male and female friends at school, to compare how a teenager's empathy levels related to their number of close friends of the opposite gender.
Although empathetic boys had markedly more close female friends than their less empathetic male peers, the same could not be said for empathetic female students, who did not attract a greater number of opposite sex friends than their peers whose responses did not indicate higher levels of empathy.
Professor Joseph Ciarrochi, who led the study, said there were two possible reasons why girls seem to value empathy in male friendships.
"For one thing, boys who are not empathetic can be more aggressive and dangerous," he said.
There could also be a more controversial "evolutionary" reason for the result.
"I'm not saying it's necessarily this, this is very controversial," he said. "But Year 10 girls and boys are already practicing for future romantic relationships. In a romantic relationship, it's important for them to pick a male who is going to stick around and be supportive, particularly if the girl eventually has a baby."
From an evolutionary perspective, "the male doesn't need to think about that as much".
However, Ciarrochi said the results do not necessarily mean women don't like "bad boys", they just want to be around people who can understand how they are feeling.
"It's a really important message to get out to males that you can still be masculine and tough and have empathy. Being able to take someone else's perspective doesn't make you weak or a wuss."
Although the study only looked at Year 10 students (15 and 16 year olds), Ciarrochi said, if female aversion to danger was the cause, he expected the results would recur throughout a person's lifespan.
