Ghostly Encounter
People with these personality traits ghost you
What personality traits are most common in people who ghost?
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Ghosting harms all sides. Which personality traits are most likely to indicate that the person might ghost you.
Their first encounter is like in a film: the atmosphere is magical, the conversations stimulating, gentle touches make your heart beat faster, and there is a gentle kiss to say goodbye. Images of a future together appear in her head, the first apartment, her first child… She texts him before going to bed: “Good night!” He does not answer. He never answers again.
Ghosting, i.e. a loss of communication or contact without notice, is a phenomenon that is particularly widespread among younger people: According to a survey by extra have ever ghosted someone they previously dated. Almost a quarter of respondents from the same age group have already done so with a friend.
What ghosting is doing to us
Ghosting is done for a variety of reasons. According to study some participants stated that they lacked the communication skills to have an open, honest – and possibly uncomfortable – conversation with a person they no longer wanted to meet. Others lacked perceived confidence, while others suffered from social anxiety.
According to one, anyone who is ghosted suffers study in various short- and long-term psychological effects. According to one study, shortly after being ghosted, those affected suffered from confusion and felt an “overwhelming rejection” – which negatively affected their self-esteem. Many also suffered from the lack of a clear conclusion to the relationship – those who are being ghosted do not know the reason for the break in communication. Attempts to find this reason are usually doomed to fail.
Wasn’t I beautiful enough? Interesting enough? Funny enough? Why didn’t I reach this person? A tangle of questions and uncertainty can overcome those left without a word. Ultimately, ghosting is not a win for either side: whoever ghosts suffers from feelings of guilt, whoever is ghosted from sadness, as another study summarizes.
So how can you possibly avoid having to expose yourself to this phenomenon? In fact, various studies have identified possible personality traits that make someone more likely to ghost other people.
Personality traits to look out for
Ultimately, of course, no statistics can predict the behavior of an individual person – and it should not be about treating people with certain personality traits with suspicion. Rarely is it a factor that causes people to ghost other people.
But so that you don’t get lost in the same questions over and over again and sink into self-doubt, these scientifically worked out personality traits may be of help to you.
- avoidance behavior: This feature should come as no surprise – studies concluded that people who ghost others want to avoid conflict and uncomfortable conversations as much as possible.
- Believe in Destiny: “It is preordained” – those who believe such and similar things also tend to ghost, as the same study found. After all, it makes no sense for these people to discuss a relationship (or its end) that was obviously doomed to fail from the start.
- Anxiety: Those who are prone to fear also tend to fear the consequences of a breakup. The alternative is to avoid inconvenience – by cutting off contact.
Less a personality trait, but still a possible factor in terms of statistics: age. The phenomenon of ghosting is at least more widespread, especially among younger people.
Sources used: de.statista.com, psycnet.apa.org, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, journals.sagepub.com, psychologytoday.com