While men and women both struggle with the same fears: The fear of rejection/abandonment, the fear of engulfment, and the fear of intimacy. Each gender, however, has a unique way of dealing with them.
Men are more likely to self-sabotage a relationship with outward actions, such as cheating, inconsistency or emotional unavailability, whereas women often silently self-sabotage relationships by denying themselves of their happiness or acting upon limiting beliefs.
Why Women Self-sabotage Relationships
For a lot of women, our early experiences of relationships affect our attitude and behavior towards love.
If your experience of love in the past was shaped by men that would leave, cheat, or make you feel unwanted, chances are high that you will develop a tendency of expecting that same behavior in the future.
While most women sabotage a relationship subconsciously to protect themselves from the anticipated pain of rejection or abandonment, it is, unfortunately, these assumptions lead to self-destructive behavior in relationships.
In this blog post, I want to shed a light on how women self-sabotage relationships and the primary behaviors women engage in that lead to the end of a relationship.
10 Signs of Self-Sabotaging Behavior in Relationships
1. Settling
Number one is the one I used to be most prone to. And that is that women tend to settle for a relationship that does not truly serve them.
Meaning that, rather than waiting for someone that meets your standards and shares your values, you settle for a man that simply shows interest or is available.
It’s a sign of scarcity thinking that implies that you don’t believe that you can do better and decide that you need to be happy with what you can get.
Speaking from experience these relationships usually end with at least one broken heart and the assumption that something is wrong with you. When in all reality you just haven’t met the right one yet.
2. Being inauthentic
One of my favorite dating mantras is: “Be yourself from the start because you want to find the person that loves the real you”.
A lot of times women will trade in authenticity to maintain a connection. We become who we think our partner wants us to be and thus betray ourselves.
However, putting on a mask is not sustainable. The real you is bound to show up and when that happens, you might realize that the two of you are not compatible after all.
If you betray yourself to appeal to someone else you are essentially sabotaging the relationship, by setting yourself and him up for disappointment.
3. Avoiding conflict
This point might come as a surprise to some of you. Because as children we are taught that avoiding conflict is a good thing and means that we are being “nice”.
However, there is such a thing as being too nice. And that is if you are pleasing your partner to the point that you compromise yourself.
If you repeatedly bow down to his needs and wants but fail to speak up for your own, you don’t just avoid conflict but rob the relationship of its potential for growth.
If you consistently avoid conflict, over time, it will impact your connection in many ways. The unresolved differences will fester, even more, leading to less intimacy due to resentment and anger.
Eventually, your relationship will become stagnant and uncomfortable and prompt your partner to break up.
4. Things are going too well
Less common, but just as destructive is the idea that things are going too well.
You believe that your relationship and your man is “too good to be true”. Rather than appreciating the relationship and your boyfriend you doubt and second-guess every action.
You start to believe that it’s just a matter of time before things hit the fan and the relationship ends.
Unfortunately, this belief becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy because you start looking for flaws or signs that the relationship is doomed. And slowly your paranoia will start to push him away.
5. Setting your expectations too high
Even though everybody knows that perfection is impossible, some women tend to set their expectations of a romantic partner very high.
The problem with setting high expectations is that your partner will start to feel like it is impossible to please you and make him believe he is not good enough. He will eventually give up trying and end the relationship.
Meanwhile, you will blame your partner for the relationship failure, even though it was you that failed to set realistic expectations.
6. Controlling your partner
The need for control stems from the fear that your partner might leave you for something/ someone better. In an attempt to constantly monitor their feelings towards you, you demand control over every aspect of their lives.
You want to know what they are doing, what they are thinking, and how they are doing at all times. This intense control is a violation of their privacy and will make them feel constricted.
The underlying message that you don’t trust them and are anxious about your value to them will cause stress in your partner and end up costing you the relationship.
7. Being insecure
Probably the most common way women are self-sabotaging their relationship is by being insecure about their value and acting needy. The constant need for reassurance from your partner shows that you have low self-esteem.
Women who portray that behavior struggle with the assumption that they are not good, beautiful, or interesting enough for their boyfriend. They feel unworthy of their partner’s love and therefore question his intentions.
The problem is, that if he constantly has to reassure you, but you keep tearing yourself down, he will eventually give up and break up with you.
8. Choosing unavailable partners
Another interesting way women sabotage their relationships is by choosing partners that are wrong for them. The best example is the bad boy or the emotionally unavailable man.
By going after someone that exhibits all the qualities you do not desire in a future mate, you are setting yourself up for failure. This is often done subconsciously by women that think they are ready for a relationship but are not.
You enter a relationship with someone unavailable because you fear commitment yourself.
9. Comparing your man to others
One of the main reasons why relationships fail is because we compare our boyfriend and our relationship with others, especially lovers and relationships we have had in the past.
While thinking of your ex and the experiences you shared from time to time is normal, it becomes a problem when you get stuck comparing the closeness and feelings you had with your ex to your new partner.
Your partner and your ex are two completely different people and therefore comparing them won’t ever work.
Rather than questioning if your current relationship measures up to your past relationship, you need to be open to a new connection and new experiences unique to your new relationship.
10. Trust issues
And last but certainly not least, women often subconsciously self-sabotage a relationship when they have not dealt with their past hurt.
It may be that you have been heartbroken too many times and now your trust issues affect the new relationship.
Instead of truly trusting your boyfriend, you constantly wait for him to disappoint you. You are resistant to his kindness, love, or care because you don’t want to get too vulnerable and have to face the same hurt as in the past.
Unfortunately, trust is one of the main components of a healthy relationship. By withholding your trust from him, you are making it impossible to build intimacy and grow together as a couple. This will eventually lead to a break-up.
