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Scant evidence, sweeping claim: Do romantic relationships matter more to men?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2026

Thomas Leopold Open the ORCID record for Thomas Leopold [Opens in a new window]
Thomas Leopold*
Affiliation:
University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany t.leopold@wiso.uni-koeln.de www.thomasleopold.eu
*
*Corresponding author.
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Abstract

The target article attributes four gendered patterns to men’s relative scarcity of non-partner intimacy. I argue that two patterns are robust, two are not, and in none does the evidence substantiate an intimacy deficit as the primary driver. The sweeping title claim is therefore unsupported, yet it may still spark productive debate.

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Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 49 , 2026 , e109
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press

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