Romantic relationship works better if friends are present in your life because they make your relationship more beautiful, get advice from a third person, but also they are irreplaceable in everyone's life.
Why can't a single man ever complete us?
There are several types of loneliness and the partner fulfills only one of them. We experience the desire to engage in intimate relationships, the desire for good friends, and the desire to be part of a group/community and work together with them. The absence of each of them is a kind of loneliness, so in many cases you feel alone even when you have the love of your life by your side.
The truth is that to feel fulfilled we need a whole community and for a healthy romantic relationship, we all need the presence of society.
But why are friends so important for our romance to work?
For us to function we need to feel connected to each other: when we are disconnected, according to studies, we will see the consequences in the quality of sleep, physical and mental health.
If we rely on only one partner, then the health of that relationship disproportionately determines our health. Normal fluctuations in that relationship, then, can be devastating. For example, one study found that people who endured marital conflict released stress hormones at an unusual level, except for those who had quality relationships outside of marriage.
When we feel disconnected in a relationship, we naturally seek to maintain belonging by seeking it in another relationship. According to experts, "feelings that come from social relationships can compensate for mood swings or problems that come from a romantic relationship."
Having friends makes you resilient to marital stress because our other relationships help us maintain homeostasis. When we are emotionally stable in the face of arguments with our spouse, we not only benefit ourselves, but also our spouse and the relationship as a couple.
If friends make our spouses happy, their happiness will benefit us too. That being said, the more people interact with friends, the lower the chances of experiencing depression, not only for them, but also for their partners.
