You are fully entitled to that decision, whether for personal reasons, or you feel that spending time with them no longer fulfills you.
They don't have any friends.
If your new partner is somewhat of a lone wolf, that could be cause for concern. Jessica Harrison, a licensed professional counselor and owner of Courageous Counseling and Consulting, says a lack of long-term friendships is a major red flag.
“Declining invitations might mean you're deciding to put energy and focus into building a family, educational pursuits, self-care, or spirituality,” explained Mathews. “It's an error to equate declining to hang out with friends as a lack of interest about or care for those friendships.
Survey suggest that having few or no friends is not uncommon. Millennials are most likely to report having no friends, and those numbers may be growing as a result of social media, internet use, and world events.
First, we have fewer close friends. According to the May 2021 American Perspectives Survey of over 2,000 adults, 12% of Americans report having no friends, up from under 3% in the 1990s.
In general, based on 2021 survey data, the average person in America has between 3 and 5 close friends. According to this survey: almost half (49%) report having 3 or fewer close friends. over one-third (36%) report having between 4 and 9 close friends.
"Lacking encouragement from family or friends, those who are lonely may slide into unhealthy habits," Valtorta says. "In addition, loneliness has been found to raise levels of stress, impede sleep and, in turn, harm the body. Loneliness can also augment depression or anxiety."
Some of the relationships Lindberg found are intuitive. Time with friends drops off abruptly in the mid-30s, just as time spent with children peaks. Around the age of 60—nearing and then entering retirement, for many—people stop hanging out with co-workers as much, and start spending more time with partners.
From concentrating on our careers, to making the most of travel opportunities, to getting some hours in at the gym, we're all guilty of letting the weeks go by with proper quality time scheduled in with our friends. According to researchers at The University of Oxford, though, we should be seeing friends twice a week.
Introverts don't like crowded places. They prefer to be alone and carefully choose where they want to go. Being an introvert is not a bad thing. That is just who you are, and you shouldn't feel bad about it.
Some people are naturally loners, as in they prefer to be by themselves some/most of the time. But if they're a loner because they dislike others or because others dislike them, it's likely that they're just unpleasant — and it could be a red flag.
They're not knowledgeable about the skills for making friends. They're too shy, socially anxious, insecure, or unconfident to pursue friendships. They don't mind being alone, and so don't have as much motivation to go out and meet people as someone who constantly craves company.
And things are getting worse: 2021 research by the mental health charity Movember suggests that nearly a third of men feel as though they do not have any close friends – or any friends at all. (It also goes without saying that, generally, this is predominantly an issue among straight men, too).
But is having a lot of male friends as a woman actually a red flag? A new study published in Personality And Individual Differences suggests that other women might think it is. Psychologically, both same-sex and cross-sex friendships have been shown to benefit our human and emotional development.
Some girls have always been more comfortable playing with the boys and only have a couple of close girlfriends within a large circle of male companions. Many believe that female friendships bring drama, and that it's just easier to be one of the boys.
For me, yes. Many guys will agree. Men typically don't hang out with girls they don't secretly (or openly) want to get with. Which means that a girl with a lot of guy friends has a lot of potential threats around her to impede a new romance.
Daily experience suggests that non-romantic friendships between males and females are not only possible, but common—men and women live, work, and play side-by-side, and generally seem to be able to avoid spontaneously sleeping together.
Men and women were found to be socially promiscuous – making more and more friends and social contacts – until the age of 25, after which point they started losing them rapidly, with women losing them at an initially faster rate than men.
People who don't have friends might be referred to as shy, reticent, unsociable, or loners. In reality, there might be many reasons why people lack friends. Some may want more friends, while others are satisfied with few social connections.
Some people have higher social needs than others, which means they may want to have a greater number of friends. Those who value their alone time may need fewer friends, and that's OK too. In general, based on 2021 survey data, the average person in America has between 3 and 5 close friends.
Adults with jobs, kids, and a collection of other responsibilities also simply have less time available for making friends. And research shows making a casual friend takes 50 hours on average, while close friendships take 200 hours.
For years, friendship in America has been in decline, a trend that accelerated during the pandemic. Three decades ago, 3 percent of Americans told Gallup pollsters they had no close friends; in 2021, an online poll put it at 12 percent.
If you've ever thought “Why do I have no friends?” it may reassure you to know that you aren't unusual. A 2019 YouGov survey found that more than 20% of people in the US have no close friends. On your next walk, imagine that every fifth person you meet is in this position.
They're confident
Loners are attractive because of their confidence. Their personality brings out the best in others. And can get through any challenges life brings.
Introverts can also sometimes be considered loners. These are people who enjoy time alone, not necessarily because they don't like being around other people, but rather because they are more interested in their own inner thoughts and feelings.