You are who you hang out with?

My friends and I grew up with the common saying, “you are who your friends are.” Typically used to keep us from hanging out with kids who got into trouble too often, didn’t have manners, etc. I haven’t heard it in a while now that I’m an adult, except for just the other day.

My boyfriend is in the Air Force & aptly fitting to the stereotype, about 3/4 of his friend group cheat on their girlfriends. I keep my distance from them bc it disgusts me quite frankly, but one of his closer friends got into a public argument with his girlfriend. She accused him of cheating bc he’s been distancing himself from her. (He’s not cheating, as far as we know, he just wants to break up and is dragging his feet over it.) But when he asked for evidence of where she had the nerve to accuse him of cheating, she said, “well look at your friends! Your character is a reflection of them, they are a reflection of your character.”

So, do you agree or disagree that you are who your friends are? (👈🏽 Poll question) Is it reasonable to suspect cheating, or drug use, or racism, etc if that’s common in someone’s friend circle? Is there a chance that your friend group could drag you down to their level after a certain amount of time together?