03 January 2024 , 16:47
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Nearly three-quarters of adults (72%) say they would love to make new friends – but 48% feel this gets harder to do as you get older, research has found.
A survey of 2,000 adults found that 17% admit they wouldn't have a clue as to how to make new friendships – with 35% saying they lose confidence as they age.
As a result, one in three would feel nervous about the idea of meeting new friends – as a quarter of those polled say they have not formed a new friendship since the age of 24 years old. But on average, 37 is the age at which adult typically stop making new friends – by which point they have a total of just three true pals.
And despite being surrounded by family, and having a busy social life, 22% claim they often feel lonely – although 37% of those would hesitate to admit this to others, as 60% feel there is a societal taboo around adult loneliness.
In a bid to combat these feelings, and make some new friends, 27% would be willing to take up a new activity, and 18% would try a meet-up app.
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Beavertown Brewery and CALM are encouraging Brits to have a go at climbing this January, in a bid to meet some new people (Rg Studio/Getty Images)The research was commissioned by Beavertown, which has partnered with the charity, Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM), to launch “Crush Loneliness this January”.
Together, they will be running a series of social climbing events across the month at London and Lakeland Climbing Centres, encouraging people to meet others or get involved with a group of mates and try climbing, to help curb loneliness throughout the month. A spokesman for the brewery said: “Loneliness is something which is happening all over the country, every day of the year.
“Making friends is definitely something that was easier at the earlier stages of our lives, for a number of reasons, but we are keen to show adults that there are other ways to get out there and meet new people.”
The study also found that, of those who feel most lonely in January, 45% put this down to people not wanting to socialise after Christmas, while 42% blame it on the lack of events.
Some of the top reasons why people believe it’s harder to make friends when you’re older include people already having established friendship groups (71%), and not going out as much compared to their younger years (61%). Meanwhile, when thinking about their closest friend, 37% first met them at school, while 32% connected at work – and 21% of those polled, via OnePoll, were introduced to their dearest pal by another friend or family member.
The spokesman for Beavertown added: “There are many different ways to make friends and meet new people – and it might be surprising to learn that a lot of people are in the same boat when it comes to having the confidence to try them out.
“We want to start people’s year off positively by crushing the taboo topic that is loneliness, and hopefully being the catalyst to some long-standing future friendships.
“You’ll be seeing us working alongside CALM to create moments that bring people together, and make life feel worth living for you and the people in your orbit.”