Why is there such an emphasis on couples hanging out together?

I think it’s just a case of seeking out people who are similar to you. I’ve read that people who have children tend to drift away from their childless friends after awhile. Probably something similar to that.

Also,there’s the whole ‘third wheel’ thing, like a couple + one friend? Sometimes can be awkward.

It’s more common that’s all. Most couples know other couples in their own age groups, some come together around the activities of their kids. I’ve never given it much thought but I know my mother had a rough time socially adjusting to becoming a divorcee and watching her couple friends kind of exclude her as time went on, she said it was typical but I still don’t understand why and to what advantage. It’s sad for people to limit themselves like that.

For me, since I’m often the third wheel with a couple, I know that as a couple, I’d like hanging out with other couples just so someone who might be single or can’t be with their SO wouldn’t feel like the odd one out.

I wonder if you really wanted to ask this question?Me thinks that you were having a slow inspiration day and came up with this.

The two people in a couple often get sick of just hanging out with each other, yet don’t really want to leave the SO behind to hang out with someone else. But if you hang out with all your guy friends, your wife will feel left out (or vice versa, for gal friends). So hanging out with another couple is the way to go – you get to chat with the other guy, your lady chats with the other lady, you got to feel like you did some socializing, but you didn’t let your mate wander away unattended into some other Romeo or Juliet’s lap. ;)

Also, people in relationships are very often in a different place in their lives than are single people. Different issues, different problems. They likely have more things to discuss with other coupled people. Couples don’t do a lot of the things that single people are likely to do, either – like go out to the bar to look for hookups.

@laureth: That makes the most sense. I guess because my boyfriend and I tend to spend time in large groups, we don’t encounter that too much. I think it also goes back to how our society puts so much emphasis on coupling. When I was single, I never minded hanging out with my couple friends and I was often invited along even if it would just be the three of us.

@ASoprano: I wonder if you really wanted to answer the question. Methinks you were having a slow answering day and came up with that.

We don’t feel pressure to hang out with other couples. The only reason we do is because the couples we do hang with we’ve grown up with and known for decades. But, we probably wouldn’t seek out other couples to hang out with. We also have several single friends with whom we do things with quite frequently.

I guess for those who chose it, it’s a matter of finding people who have common interests and lives.

In my circle of friends most of us have grown up together or have know eachother for well over a decade…we’ve hung out together as a group.. in couples.. with couples and singles.. and now it’s come to a point where most are married.. a lot of us are engaged… and one guy is the perennial bachelor… he tends to leave early and seems to feel a bit left out.

With my fiancee’s group of friends (they rarely mix for some weird reason)... most of her friends are single.. so it’s one or two couples and a bunch of singles.. or just the two of us and a bunch of her single friends bitching about how men suck and they are going to end up alone and blah blah blah fucking blah…. It can get extremely uncomfortable and irritating if you are the one in a relationship.

We will on ocassion each hang out with our own group… we’re not attached at the hip, but we do enjoy spending as much time together as possible.. so wether it’s a group or just us… it seems we have a better time whenever it’s more a couples theme.

@Dr_C: That’s another issue. I find that many of my single friends whine about being single then get in a relationship and are still miserable, go figure so when they are hanging out with couples, they feel as if the couples are “rubbing it in.” It just always seemed odd to me that if a couple wants to do something with multiple people, it has to be a couple rather than just two friends. these are some great answers people!

I listen to a radio station called DRCFM and I always think of you when the DJ says the name.

@KatawaGrey well some people are just miserable no matter what.. some just love to complain and call attention to themselves… all i can say is that in my case it doesn’t bother me that much if the setting is a couples only thing or a random group thing… i tendo to have fun either way… i love my friends and my fiancee as they are all a big part of my life and can adapt to most situations…. it’s just the people that constantly complain or try to make you feel bad just because you are in a relationship and they’re not.

Once a friend had to bitch out some random girl at one of our parties because she came with one of our couple friends and kept bitching about every little thing.. an extremely negative person. She kept going on and on about how she didn’t like anything and how much every little thing annoyed her.. including large groups of couples. My friend eventually asked her to stop and actually went as far as saying “It’s no wonder you’re single.. if i was dating someone like you i’d shove a shotgun in my mouth just so i can stop hearing your grating high-pitched harpy bitch fest!”. We haven’t seen her since.

btw… i’m soooooo going to google that radio station :) (i just hope the DJ isn’t some pretentious prick and that’s the reason it reminds you of me :P)

Safety in even numbers?

My boyfriend and I don’t hang out with other couples that often. We do have a couple of friends who we wish would be a couple. lol

I have found that hanging out with other couples who honor and respect their marriages is affirming to our own marriage.

There is a type of unwritten social dogma amongst “single” groups of people, e.g. the “singles club”. Once you get into a relationship that dynamic usually changes for any unlimited number of factors. Tension may brew between the friendships – territorial issues may arise, “third wheel”, etc.

Couples are probably more prone to hanging out with couples because they can understand/relate to each other better. This isn’t to say that couples can’t hang out with “singles” or possibly have anything in common, but it’s just more within their comfort zone usually to hang out with other couples. As @Judi mentioned, it can be affirming to one’s own relationship.

@Disc2021: What a great answer! Lurve from me to you!

@KatawaGrey I lurve you too, friend.