surprising that Bleske-Rechek & Buss (2001) found that women judged physical protection as a more important reason for initiating an opposite-sex friendship than did men and that opposite-sex friendship is a strategy women use for gaining physical protection. In this regard, males have historically been perceived as having an advantage in cross-sex friendships because the number of resources they have to offer in the relationship exceeds those of females (Monsour et al. 57). In terms of exchange principles within the friendship, women would benefit more than men (Monsour et al. 57). While women may enter into cross-sex friendships for protection, men may enter them for the possibility of sexual encounters (Akbulut and Weger 100). These interactions are desirable because men get to spread their genes through potential offspring (Akbulut and Weger 100). In return, females can benefit from this type of cross-sex friendship through their friend's interest in potential offspring (Akbulut and Weger 101). In this regard, the men within these cross-sex friendships would devote time and energy to caring for and protecting their potential children, which would be beneficial to the females in these relationships (Akbulut and Weger 101). Therefore, in cross-sex friendships, it has been discovered that males are commonly the ones more interested in initiating romantic relationships due to their potential benefits, as observed in a survey of male and female college students (Akbulut and Weger 110). Perception The way in which other individuals perceive cross-sex friends can affect the friendship itself. Cross-sex friends sometimes face the audience challenge within their social groups, which occurs when other people assume that they are in a romantic or sexual relationship and the cross-sex friends have to present themselves as just friends in response. Schoonover and McEwan (2014) state that since male-female romantic relationships are the norm, people often assume that cross-sex friendships have the potential to develop into a more intimate relationship. The different types of cross-sex friendships will experience the audience challenge in different ways. Strictly platonic friends are least likely to bring about the audience challenge, while mutual romance are the most likely to face the audience challenge. The number of cross-sex friends an individual has also plays a role in how their cross-sex friendships are perceived. When an individual has numerous cross-sex friendships, they are much less likely to face the audience challenge. Regardless of the severity of the audience challenge, those in cross-sex friendships have