Every time we meet someone we like, we go through great lengths to hide our nasty qualities while promoting our good ones. This lasts for a while until the true nature of someone finally starts to seep through the pores. While everyone has a few annoying qualities, the more severe ones can remain dormant until well into a relationship. For example, your new girlfriend may leave dirty dishes laying around. That can usually be worked out. Once you find out she likes to take methamphetamine and drive your car into lakes, you’ll wish you had known her a little better before you started dating this person and getting intimate with her.

One big indicator of a person’s true makeup is how they act when a stressful situation arises. It isn’t hard to keep a smiling face on when the sun is shining and the birds are chirping, but as soon as their car is towed or they’re running late to work you’ll get to see the true shade of their colors. Just because someone swears or gets grumpy when they’re stressed out doesn’t mean you can’t date them. It’s when they truly fly off the handle and start breaking windows and sobbing uncontrollably under stress when you need to take note.

Also take note of how they act towards people that aren’t you. If they try to attack a bartender for bringing a gin martini instead of a vodka martini, you should think about how they’ll react when you accidentally forget to pay a bill on time. How they react to the rest of the world is exactly how they’ll react to you once the initial romance has worn off. And if they can’t hide their rage over the wrong martini on a third date, doesn’t it stand to reason that there are a few things wrong in the psychological department?