Avoid Dating a Manchild: Here’s How According to Dating Experts
Sabrina Carpenter just dropped her new single “Manchild,” and let’s just say, she just didn’t give us a new summer anthem, she gave us a manual. With lyrics that read…
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Sabrina Carpenter just dropped her new single “Manchild,” and let’s just say, she just didn’t give us a new summer anthem, she gave us a manual. With lyrics that read like a Reddit forum, or whining sessions with your girlfriends about dating life set to a bop, she’s calling out every emotionally stunted guy who thinks adulting is optional and ghosting is cool. If you’ve ever dated someone who treats Call of Duty like a full-time job but can’t text you back because he forgot to charge his phone, congrats, you’ve met a manchild. And according to dating experts, Carpenter’s not just venting, she's onto something.
So, how do you actually avoid dating one of these overgrown adolescents in disguise? Here’s how.
How to Detect a Manchild
Dating app Hily relationship expert Dr. Marisa T. Cohen, PhD, said in an interview with the Daily Mail that the term is usually used to describe a person who is emotionally immature. Cohen said, “A manchild acts more like a child as opposed to an individual his own age. In especially problematic scenarios, the manchild may be intentionally acting in an incompetent manner so as to evoke the need for their partner's care.”
Dr. Cohen added that a manchild is doing this not only out of incompetence, but as a manipulation tactic.
To avoid dating a manchild or to determine if you’re in a relationship with one, Dr. Cohen suggested asking the following questions to determine their emotional maturity:
- How do you deal with tough moments?
- What does self-care mean to you?
- What are you most proud of and how did you make it happen?
- What have you learned from your past relationships that’s helped you grow as a person?
- What are your current goals?
Peter Pan Syndrome
VeryWell Mind also provides several signs of an immature partner such as:
- They lack boundaries with parents (not just a manchild, but a mama’s boy also? Double whammy)
- They have not had mature relationships
- Their friends are immature
- They can’t keep a job
- They can’t handle stress
- They have an unhealthy relationship with alcohol or other substances
- They don’t do chores
- They can’t express their emotions appropriately
If you’re seriously considering spending your life with the person you’re dating, but you think they’re a manchild and you think you can change them, don't. You might end up his Wendy, aka: his mother, who babies him when adulting gets too hard. And don’t mistake potential for progress. A manchild might eventually grow up, but it’s not your job to raise him.
