When you’re young, friendships are your life, but somewhere along the way as we get older, they get knocked down the priority list. Feel like making friends gets harder the older you are? You’re not the only one, as 69% of Americans agree, according to a new survey.
The poll of 2-thousand adults finds that the average person now has just 3.6 close friends, and that number keeps shrinking year after year.
- Over the last decade, people say they’ve had around nine friendships fade. That’s like losing one good friend every year.
- It turns out, losing friends is more common for younger folks, with Gen Z reporting losing 10.4 during the last 10 years, compared to 7.7 for baby boomers.
- Men are also losing friends at a faster rate than women, as they report losing 9.6 in the last decade, while women have lost an average of 7.8.
- So, what’s killing all these friendships? Geographical distance is the biggest reason, it’s the reason half ended.
- Life transitions is a close second at 48%, followed by one person just not reaching out anymore, which happened to 40%.
- A quarter of friendships were lost because there’s just not enough time, and 22% ended because of a change in values.
According to psychologists, it’s not that people don’t care, it’s that we have fewer chances to connect.
“Making new friendships in adulthood can be really challenging due to not having as many built-in opportunities in everyday life,” explains licensed clinical psychologist Kylie Sligar. She points out that “so much of life is virtual these days,” which doesn’t help, but she suggests that taking initiative, being consistent and “stepping into vulnerability” can help make new and lasting connections.
Source: Vice