Proven

Mean friends are actually your most important friends

Girlfriends who roast you: it's not so bad after all. Because it's your better friends who are mean.

If your best friend snaps at you once and babbles that you should take off that weird shirt, that you should visit your parents more often, and that after all these years you should look for another job: just pinch yourself. Because you are actually lucky to have such an honest person around you. Your better friends are actually really honest with you, even if that can sometimes be a bit awkward to hear. But in the end, you become a nicer person because of it.

Because this way you at least know what you can really improve about yourself. Other friends will always agree with you and keep their opinions more on the surface. They party with you in the pub, but never complain about your strange hairstyle and they also won't tell you that you've gained a few pounds. And even if it's not always pleasant to hear, still. It has been proven that you actually benefit the most from your fake friends, in the long run. They want to help you.

Why? You can develop yourself more and you see your mistakes more quickly. This ultimately makes you feel happier, because you make fewer mistakes, get stuck in misery less, and can more easily be that better version of yourself. So don't sulk about that jab from your buddy. Cheer when you get an insult from her and just give that sincere bestie an extra sweet hug back.

FACTS

• Half of all teenagers have a friend they met online
• Girls have an average of seven good friends
• Children as young as nine months old already understand what friendship means