The topic has been re-ignited after a short film taken at Utah University in the US that asks male and female students to answer that exact question was posted online (watch below).

In the video, all the ladies agree men and women can be friends without having romantic or sexual feelings for each other, while all the guys say even if he doesn't admit it, a bloke would always be keen to hook-up with a female friend.

"We can be content with just friendship, but … we're gonna have [those feelings]" admits one male student.

But is it really impossible? Clinical psychologist Louise Adams from Self Essentials (www.self.net.au) says while feeling attracted to a friend of the opposite sex is natural, you can still maintain a non-romantic relationship.

"It's normal to feel sexually attracted to someone very similar to ourselves or someone displaying care and love towards us," Adams says.

"Attraction or chemistry can happen in close friendships, because we are hard wired biologically to feel sexual attraction towards the opposite sex if we are heterosexual," she explains.

Adams says male and female friends in their late teens to their thirties are more likely to experience attraction to one another because those ages are "when we are most active in looking for a sexual partner."

Adams says she's not surprised by the student's answers in the video.

"Biologically women are pickier than men when it comes to finding a partner and men broadly may be more sexually motivated than women."

However, Adams insists it's easy to generalise when it comes to this issue.

"It's different for everyone.

"It doesn't necessarily spell the end of the friendship and it's not a 'bad' thing."

Over to you dear readers; can men and women be 'just friends'? Tell us what you think on Facebook and Twitter.