Attention all male friends who need an excuse to get out the house and spend some quality manly time with mates – this is your calling card.

Scientists from the University of Gottingen in Germany are to thank, their new study showing that male bonding is a better stress reliever than time spent with a significant other or family.

This may sound like a pretty awesome study to conduct but there’s a catch here from Metro:

The group studied Barbary macaques, which were chosen because they’re incredibly human-like in the way they behave.

Stress-related illness mainly happened among females and couples… [and] men keep an eye out for each other, the study found.

Christopher Young, from the university’s Primate Social Evolution Group said: ‘If male primates live in multimale groups they usually fight fiercely over access to females, but males can develop friendly relationships with a few group mates.

‘Male macaques form social bonds similar to human friendships that buffer them against day-to-day stressors.’

So you’re going to have to use a study conducted on monkeys to try and convince your partner that a piss up with mates is better than spending quality time with them – I see, good luck with that.

Be sure to film the scene where you arrive home in the wee hours muttering about Barbary macaques, we’d love to see how it all plays out.

[source:metro]