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Introducing Maybelaterships, the Dating Trend That Might Be Worse Than a Situationship

Dating coaches say maybelaterships happen when someone dangles the possibility of commitment without actually offering it.

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You’ve heard of situationships, but what about “maybelaterships”? This dating arrangement is perhaps more egregious in nature. Let’s explore the concept.

What Is a ‘Maybelatership’?

According to Dating Coach Noah Heymann of DateCoach.com, “Maybelaterships are romantic entanglements in which the relationship isn’t yet defined, and one participant is saying that in potential future circumstances it could become a relationship.”

“The person who is deferring the decision until later may claim any number of emotional or logistical reasons, which may be true,” he continues. “On the other hand, they could manipulatively conceal their true intent, such as that they need more time to evaluate the potential partner, or their potential other options.”

Of course, he notes, there’s also the possibility that they might never intend to get into a relationship with the other person and are just stringing them on. Sounds familiar…and eerily similar to the dreaded “situationship.”

“A situationship is a broader category in which participants in a potential relationship haven’t yet defined it as such for any number of reasons, and may never intend to,” Heymann says. “A maybelatership is the kind of situationship in which one person is dangling the possibility of a relationship in front of the other, sometimes for fair reasons and sometimes manipulatively.”

What Is Driving the Rise of Maybelaterships?

Oh, I don’t know…perhaps it’s the commitment aversion that modern daters have developed in recent years.

“One reason that maybelaterships are more common these days is that the dating apps give everyone more dating options that........

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