Women can form deep, lasting friendships, but sometimes, a single misstep can lead to a permanent rift. The dynamics of these relationships can be delicate, and misunderstandings or disagreements can have lasting effects. To help you avoid this situation, here are 18 reasons why women may end up falling out with their friends.
Not Making Time
According to the Mayo Clinic, we need friends because they “prevent isolation and loneliness,” so spending time with them in person is really important. Meanwhile, a friend who is lazy and can’t be bothered to meet up and spend time with others will soon find themselves cast out of the group, something that most women have experienced at some point in their lives.
Selfishness
Good relationships are about give and take and doing things for one another. Women who are selfish and only concerned about themselves don’t show that they are selfless. Women can’t stand selfishness, and selfish people don’t remain in the friendship circle for very long.
Cheating
A friend who cheats with another friend’s partner is walking on thin ice. As soon as the word gets out about what’s been going on, the friendship will be history. There’s no way to break up a friendship faster than to cheat with a friend’s partner.
Backstabbing
The Cambridge Dictionary says that backstabbing is “saying harmful or unpleasant things about a person when they are not present.” Women hate it when friends are false, saying one thing to one another’s faces but another behind each other’s backs. Backstabbing quickly breaks up friendships.
Gossip
Gossip is very destructive. It makes the person who started the gossip look bad, and it also makes those who spread and believe the gossip look vengeful and deceitful. Gossip also destroys the reputation of the person who is being gossiped about. It’s the ultimate friendship breaker.
Lies
No healthy relationship is built on lies, and that’s another reason why friends fall out with one another. When friends realize they have been lied to, they feel hurt, and the trust that was once the foundation of the relationship breaks down. Lies corrode good friendships.
Slander
Slander is damaging someone’s reputation on purpose by saying things about them that are untrue. Someone who speaks badly about you won’t stay your friend for long, and women hate it when people talk about them behind their backs. So slander is a big friendship breaker among females.
Catty
Although women can be catty, they really dislike cattiness among friends. When friends in the group begin to display catty behavior, they quickly become enemies, and people distance themselves from them. There’s no room for catty behavior in female friendship groups, as this really frustrates women.
Rude
Friends who are rude to one another don’t stay friends for long. There must be peace in a friendship group for it to stay alive. Friends who are rude to one another face-to-face or behind one another’s backs will soon fall out.
Jealousy
If there’s one thing that women can’t stand, it’s jealousy. Women hate it when others are jealous of the things they have, whether it be a big house, a good man, or a nice car. Women prefer friends who are happy for them and support them.
Envy
Envy goes one step further than jealousy. When a friend is envious of another, they want what the other person has and wish the other person didn’t have it. An envious person hates it when people make progress faster than they do. This kind of attitude ruins a good friendship.
Listening
“We spend about 45 percent of our communication time listening and 30 percent talking,” says Psychology Today. Women like to talk to people who they think will really take the time to listen and understand them. So when a friend isn’t a good listener but only likes to talk and be heard by others, a friendship quickly dissolves into nothing.
Drama
Women like drama, but they’re more fans of the type of drama that they watch on TV than the kind that goes on in their friendship group. When one friend always causes drama to disrupt the group, that person is soon removed from the friendship circle.
Bossy
Women are independent; they don’t like to be bossed around. So when a friend in the group tries to take control of the lives of everyone else and wants to be the ringleader, the others won’t like it. Women like to feel empowered, not overpowered by a friend.
Talkative
Women like to talk more than men. In fact, the figures from WordsRated show that “the average person speaks around 16,000 words in a day, with females (16,215 words) speaking slightly more than males (15,699).” But women don’t like overly talkative women who won’t let you get a word in edgewise.
Confidentiality
Women really appreciate confidentiality. So when someone in the friendship group reveals something that was supposed to be confidential, things get ugly. Friends find it very hard to trust one another again once secrets have been exposed. This is a common reason why women fall out with one another.
Compromise
Good friends compromise for each other; they can’t always have their way, but they’re OK with that because they love one another and want to make one another happy. Friends who can’t yield and are only content when things are done their way won’t remain good friends for long.
Trust
All good friendships must have trust as a solid foundation. When women break the trust in the friendship circle, the relationships between them break down. A friendship can’t thrive where there isn’t any trust. This is another common reason why women fall out with one another.