How To Spot A Bad Boy

Women's Dating

How to Spot a Bad Boy

Dr. Wendy Walsh

Written by: Dr. Wendy Walsh

Dr. Wendy Walsh

Dr. Wendy Walsh is the author of "The 30-Day Love Detox"" (April 2013).

Edited by: Lillian Castro

Lillian Castro

Lillian Guevara-Castro brings more than 30 years of journalism experience to ensure DatingAdvice articles and reports have been edited for overall clarity, accuracy, and reader engagement.

Discuss This! Discuss This!

One of life’s greatest mysteries: Do bad boys ever change? Sadly, most of them do not. Your best bet is probably to steer clear of bad boys before they reproduce.

Here are five red flags, characteristic of most bad boys:

1. He has a lot of angry ex-girlfriends.

If there are several women in his past who are still angry and have hostile feelings toward a guy, and he’s willing to share about it, RUN!

He clearly doesn’t have a clean dating reputation. He’ll probably break your heart and leave you just as angry as his ex-girlfriend club.

2. He doesn’t feel guilt.

This is a sure sign of a liar.

Whether he’s cheating on his taxes, his girlfriend or simply telling white lies, he’s a liar. Guilt probably does not motivate his behavior.

And if he can’t be honest with other matters, he’s not going to be honest with you either.

You’ll probably eventually find a conspicuous message while browsing his inbox.

“Bad boys have a distorted realm of thinking

everything must be perfect (including you).”

3. He fears emotional intimacy.

This guy most likely suffers from an attachment injury — which you can thank his mom for.

Emotionally avoidant men are more likely to commit infidelity as a means of avoiding emotional intimacy.

If he can’t open up to you or is emotionally distant, he’s probably a bad boy.

4. He flashes his money around, even on a first date.

Yes, it’s nice when men treat you on a date, but if he can’t stop talking or flaunting his money and his fancy car, he’s probably trying to make up for the many other areas he falls short in.

Trying to look rich when you’re not is a common sign of a guy who is interested in short-term relationships.

A decent guy will make sure you spend quality time together rather than buying you pretty things early on.

5. He wants things to be perfect.

No relationship is perfect. But bad boys have a distorted realm of thinking everything must be perfect (including you).

An argument or disagreement will reveal his true colors when he can’t find the conflict resolution skills and instead projects his disappointment with imperfection onto you.

He’s likely to cheat and have a long list of exes because he only accepts perfection.

He’ll probably be single or cheating for the rest of his life.

Have you ever dated a bad boy?