February 3, 2018  |   

friendship quizIn the best of situations, our friends are our confidants, our cheerleaders, or simply pleasurable companions. In all their different roles, friendships are valuable and positive and deserve protection—at the least, that’s what we hope they will be.

At the opposite end of the spectrum are negative friendships: people who drain you, let you down, or take advantage of you and the relationship. To give you a sense of what I mean,<a href="

">click here to watch a short video.

 

3 Steps to Stronger Friendships

The more balanced a relationship, the more rewarding. Step #1 on your path to stronger, more satisfying friendships is to understand how they operate. The quiz below will help you sort out which friendships are equitable, which friends give you as much support and enjoyment as you give them, which friends truly care about you and are happy for you when something good happens, and which ones you can count on to always “have your back.” And conversely, which friends you should wonder about the depth of their commitment to you.

 

Quiz: Evaluating Your Friendships

As you answer the questions below, think about whether the following situations have occurred with one friend or more.

Are you usually the go-to person called on when a friend needs a favor?
In conversations with a friend, do you spend most of the time listening to his or her problems or dramas rather than getting to speak about yours?
Does it feel as if a friend competes with you in exercising, dating, career success or how your children are reaching developmental milestones?
Has your friend ever held a grudge but you’re never sure what you did wrong—and you’re afraid to ask?
Do you sometimes (agree or) go along with what a friend wants to do or agree with her opinion to avoid conflict or tension?
Has your friend purposefully made you feel guilty about something—to get you to do what he or she wants?
Do you feel more obligated to prioritize hanging out with one friend over others to avoid upsetting that friend or hurting his or her feelings?
Do you often leave a meeting with your friend feeling more emotionally drained than energized?
Do you sometimes dread being with your friend, or wish you could do something else or be somewhere else?
Do you “like” considerably more friends’ social media posts than they do of yours?