Close with your sister? It might be why you don’t have many friends

Navigating adult friendships can feel difficult and confusing at times.

Why do some of us have a bustling social circle, while others only have a few friends?

In a recent eye-opening TikTok video, a woman has put forward a compelling theory. 

“In-built friends”

Brittney Nicole suggests that having sisters might just be the thing that’s stopping you from making more female friends.

Essentially, she believes that having sisters means that the need for a wide social network may feel less pressing, as they already fulfil multiple needs in our lives. 

In her clip, she says: “I strongly believe if you have sisters you are less likely to have more friends.

“Because you already have people to stand up at your wedding on your side. You already have people you trust. You already have people to be at your family events — because they’re family. You love them. You trust them. They’re similar to you a lot of the time.”

She goes on to say that this causes her to be more careful with letting others into her life.

“I’m so selective with friends because I have my sisters,” she says.

“I don’t feel like I need to have a lot of friends. There’s just no reason to have other friends in my life unless I feel like they are really good people and they add value to my life and I add value to theirs.”

She concludes: “I don’t need 45 other friends. I have my core three sisters and then maybe one or two other friends.”

“My friends can’t live up to the standard of my sister”

Everyone in the comments couldn’t have agreed more. 

“I feel like my friends just can’t live up to the standard of my sister,” one user replied.

“As someone who has a sister and mum as my best friend, I’m super selective with my friends and I’ve dropped people as soon as they become bad friends,” said a second.

And a third declared, “There will never be a social situation where you can be so unapologetically yourself as you can in a sister situation. It’s effortless.”

“I always thought this and wondered why I didn’t have very many and my mum said, ‘It’s because your sisters meet all your needs’,” another commenter shared.