Table of contents:
- Why is it harder to make friends in adulthood?
- How to make new friends as adults
- 1. Join the community
- 2. Don't close yourself off
- 3. Maintain friendship
Your 20s are a period of transition from adolescence to adulthood. At this age, most of you are bound to go through big changes. For example, from school or college to an office employee who is more serious and has greater responsibility. Unfortunately, humans who are known as social beings in adulthood have a harder time making new friends.
A study for the UK charity "Relate" found that one in eight adults have no close friends at all. So, how do you make new friends when you are no longer a teenager? Is there still a chance?
Why is it harder to make friends in adulthood?
Adults tend to find it more difficult than children to make new friends. In fact, having friends not only expands the network, but becomes a place to express joy and sorrow. Not only that, making friends can also improve a person's quality of life.
A study published in the British Medical Journal found that men and women aged 45 who had more than 10 friends had better psychological health at age 50 than people who had few friends.
Reporting from the Huffington Post page, Martin Burrow, research counselor for charity "Relate" said, "Adults tend to get stuck with careers, take care of families, and need rest too. This condition makes them not prioritize friendship. "
Then, Dr. Kate Cummins, a psychologist in California, United States also believes that as an adult the mindset will change because the brain is fully developed. This condition causes adults to think twice or three times about making friends for fear of being unsuitable, unacceptable, embarrassed, and so on. This mindset is different from children who do things without thinking and are less picky about their friends.
How to make new friends as adults
If you feel lonely and want to make new friends, don't worry. There are many ways you can make new friends to get rid of loneliness and improve your quality of life. Check out the tips below.
1. Join the community
A busy work schedule and feeling tired will definitely make you lazy to interact with other people. Make no mistake, you should make this a challenge, not an obstacle.
Participating in a community increases your chances of making friends. Not only that, this activity can also add to your experience and hone your social skills. Apart from that, you are also guaranteed to meet people with and with your interests passion the same one.
2. Don't close yourself off
Already joined a community? The next step is not to shut yourself off. Apart from being busy, "Overthinking"or too many considerations also cause you to shut down and reduce your chances of making friends.
Being too busy thinking about a match or worrying about not being accepted can make you reluctant to make friends. If you've had bad friends in the past, this doesn't mean that the same things will happen again.
3. Maintain friendship
Once you have lots of acquaintances, decide which ones are suitable for making real friends. Start deepening your relationship with this person via social media, either by small talk or meeting in person in your spare time.
The more often you interact, the more friendship you want to have. The most important thing is to maintain communication and friendship with one another.
