How to Avoid Sending Mixed Signals To Male Friends
When it comes to members of the opposite sex, there are so many opportunities for miscommunications and mix ups. This can definitely happen when you are in a romantic setting with a guy. But this can also occur even when you are just friends. Many people wonder if it is possible for men and women to truly ever be just friends because of the many differences in how men and women communicate. This can happen when one person may have feelings and the other doesn’t, or simply because someone could read too much into the other person’s actions. So with all of the confusion surrounding being friends with guys, it is important to know how to be clear in how you communicate with them. To learn more, check out these tips on how to avoid sending mixed signals to male friends.
Let them know you have a boyfriend
One thing you want to make sure you do when dealing with a male friend is to let them know your relationship status. The sooner you tell him, the better so that you do not risk any kind of confusion from the beginning. You can easily work it into a conversation that you have a boyfriend, so that it doesn’t get unnecessarily awkward. Whatever way works best for you is fine, just be sure that you make it known in some way. With guys, it is best to lay things out as plainly as possible so that you don’t leave too much up to chance or gray area. This will not give them the space to fill in the blanks with whatever their imagination can come up with.
Hang out in group settings
If you only hang out with your guy friend in a one-on-one setting, this can send the signal that you want to spend quality time with him for the wrong reasons. You may not see it this way, but to a guy, this could mean that you are interested in him. The easiest way to ease this potential confusion is to make sure you only hang out with him with a group of friends. By doing so, you let him know that he is just another one of your friends — the same as everyone else you hang with as a group.
Treat him differently than your girlfriends
You may be the type to have a certain platonic intimacy with your female friends. This is pretty common amongst a girl group of friends. For the most part, women understand that this kind of intimacy is that of friendship. But men may not see this the same way. The way you may hug or be physically playful with your female friends will send a totally different signal to your male friend. So it is best to make sure that you don’t risk being intimate with your guy friend, or he may take this as a sign that you are flirting with him and are interested in more than friendship.
Keep the touchy-feely stuff to a minimum
As mentioned, any sign of physical intimacy can make a guy think that he is out of the friend zone. And this actually makes sense, as physical touch is one of the most intimate and romantic ways of flirting with someone you like. Physical touch is usually one of the most important love languages for many people, and this could very well include your guy friend. Any kind of playful touching, hugging, a stroke of the arm, or an innocent nudge could send him straight into dating mode. Sometimes it can come as a harmless act that you may not even think twice about. But he will most likely read a lot more into it than you will. So to counteract this, it is best to just be sure to avoid it all together.
Have a real talk with him
If you have done your best to help him understand that you just want to be friends and he still doesn’t get it, then it may be time to have a sit-down talk with him. The longer you let any miscommunications go on, the longer he has time to possibly think you could be into him. So be direct, and let him know what your boundaries are and how he can respect them better.