PH
The friends-to-lovers path isn't always a disguised dating strategy.
In research examining friendship initiation, many people reported entering the friendship without romantic intentions.
Romantic interest could emerge later.
This matters because people sometimes rewrite their relationship history after becoming a couple and assume attraction “must have always been there.”
But feelings can genuinely develop as two people spend time together and learn more about each other.
A person can therefore sincerely see someone as only a friend at first and later fall in love.
Sometimes attraction isn't discovered—it develops.
© Social Psychological and Personality Science (2022)