Bad Habits or Bad Behaviors

When people are in a committed relationship, they have generally been dating for a while. Meeting family and friends is part of dating, and it is important to notice how a partner's friends and family act. Some behaviors may seem abusive, but they are just bad habits that have been learned from parents, siblings and friends. Sorting this out will help a person determine whether or not their partner can make changes for a successful relationship.

Being late is a bad habit many people have acquired, but it is not always a bad behavior people choose. If a person's parent has always been late, that may have been a bad behavior of that person, but their child may have come to expect it. Pointing out how controlling this behavior is, perhaps with the assistance of a professional counselor, can help a person understand how their behavior affects a relationship. They can then make an informed choice to change, or they can end their relationship.

Fighting or bickering is a habit many couples seem to acquire in a long term relationship. For some of them, this is simply the way they learned to communicate when they were children. Their own parents might have had this behavior, and it seems normal to them. Learning to communicate without fighting is a habit they may be able to break, but it requires better communication skills. A couple who has this issue may need to learn how to communicate with each other better before settling into a long term relationship.

Bad habits are often things that annoy a partner, and they include such things as cracking knuckles or humming while cooking. These are not necessarily done to irritate a person into doing what a partner wishes, and they are generally unconscious behaviors that can be modified. A person who wishes to control or abuse their partner will either refuse to make changes or elevate their annoying habits consciously, and this signifies these are chosen behaviors rather than habits.