Famous friendships on TV and in novels are often laced with drama, competition, and, occasionally, just downright repulsion. YouGov recently asked respondents whether they’d ever had their own “frenemy”—54% of US adults, either currently or in the past, have had a friend they didn’t actually like.
So, why keep someone around who's company you don’t fully enjoy? For 38% of Americans who’ve found themselves in this sort of quandary, the answer is that they don’t really have a choice in the matter (the person in question is a coworker or on the same sports team, etc). Similarly, 36% have had a frenemy in their friend group, so they were uncomfortable breaking it off for fear of creating an awkward situation.
Men who have had a frenemy are much more likely than women to say that they wanted to keep their friends close, but their enemies closer—31% to 17%, respectively.
Sometimes, though, friendships just become impossible to hold onto. In fact, 24% of US adults have had a conversation in which they’ve “broken up” with a friend.
And not all friends can be trusted: 20% of Americans have let slip a secret that was told to them in confidence by a friend. Similarly, 24% have made fun of or insulted a friend behind their back, 39% have lied to a friend in order to get out of plans, and 36% have purposefully ignored a text or social media message from a friend.