"We're just friends. We've got a load of mutual mates, we still get on, there's a lot of trust and friendship we didn't want to throw away."
Sure you are. But the above excuses are exactly what a PSYCHOPATH would say.
Okay, we'll ease off the hyperbole - staying in touch with your ex isn't going to make you an axe-wielding, eye-popping nut case. A study by Oakland University has found that those individuals with a disposition toward dark personality traits (tendency to manipulation, narcissism, selfishness, full-on psychopathy) are more likely to maintain a friendship with people they were previously in a relationship with.
A sample of 861 people were questioned on their post-relationship friendships, the results from which researchers found that people with the Dark Triad of traits (narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism) were more likely to keep an ex around to "exchange desirable resources" - from a position of pragmatism to being able to dabble in further sexual access with them.
Basically, if you use friendships as a resource, you'll keep an ex around as a resource. You weirdo.
"Men rated sexual access higher on importance than women did, which is consistent with other research showing that men are more likely than women to form [cross-sex friendships] due to sexual attraction," wrote researchers Justin Mogilski and Dr Lisa Welling. "Although a break-up nominally marks the end of a romantic relationship, the current research suggests that resource exchange between ex-partners can extend beyond relationship dissolution."
So if your new flame claims to be maintaining a "healthy" relationship with an ex, don't say we didn't warn you.
[Via: Daily Mail]
