>>>it was done to confuse people by having them compare 1 vs 4

I think it's more likely it was done that way because they were paraphrasing their source which wasn't consistent:

"Four in 10 (41 percent) women report having received emotional support from a friend within the past week, compared to 21 percent of men." https://www.americansurveycenter.org/research/the-state-of-a...