Sisters Before Misters – We’re More Likely to Share Secrets With Our Friends

So much for "no secrets!"

A new survey has revealed that half of Irish people say they are more likely to share a secret with their best friend than their other half.

The research was carried out among 956 Irish adults "to examine the close bond we share with our friends".

The survey, carried out by gift card company One4All, found that almost 1 in 4 of us met our best friend at secondary school while over 1 in 5 (22 per cent) met through work. Despite college being a great place to make new friends, only 14 per cent say they met their bestie in this way. Meeting through another friend or family member (19 per cent) or being childhood neighbours (15 per cent) proved more popular ways to find a BFF.

As well as sharing secrets with our besties, the results show that we’re more likely to tell them the truth. Almost half of those surveyed (45 per cent) say they are more honest with their friend than their partner, and 42 per cent say they are in touch with their friend daily.

Interestingly there is no real divide between the sexes when it comes to checking in with your best pal, with 42 per cent of men in touch daily, in comparison to 43 per cent of women.

Phone calls and texts are the most popular way to keep in touch with friends (32 per cent) while over 1 in 4 (27 per cent) say you can’t beat a face-to-face catch up with a close friend.

When it comes to social media, 60 per cent of Irish people claim to have up to 200 friends on Facebook while 15 per cent say they have anywhere from 400 to 600 friends. Half of those questioned say that they count less than 10 per cent of their friends on Facebook as real friends.