Entering your 20s or the “emerging adulthood” phase of life can be overwhelming and stressful. Entering your 20s or the “emerging adulthood” phase of life can be overwhelming and stressful. New research says that young adults who had meaningful relationships with their friends reported higher life satisfaction than counterparts who felt their friendships were not fulfilling. After all, unlike family relationships, friendships are voluntary and mutual relationships mainly because both parties enjoy each other’s company.
“Whether attending college, entering the workforce, or finding a romantic partner, emerging adults often experience various personal upheavals. Accordingly, the link between singlehood and happiness in the emerging adult population may not be a simple continuum,” the researchers wrote. “Modern emerging adults are unique in the sense that they face a host of new pressures, including social media, online dating, income inequality, pollution, the COVID-19 pandemic, and climate change, among others.”
The team recruited 1,073 single Americans aged 19 to 24 years old. All participants completed an online survey, which asked them to rate their satisfaction levels with friends, family, self-esteem, and extraversion. Most of them had a best friend at the time of the study.
“Our findings are a natural extension of existing research showing that friendship is an important determinant of happiness for emerging adults. Indeed, friends satisfy basic psychological and socializing needs, fulfill the desire to matter to others, and allow people to amplify good events by reliving them in supportive environments,” they explained. “We highlight that friendship is a noteworthy contributor to shape differences among single emerging adults—interacting with family satisfaction, self-esteem, and personality traits in complex ways.”
“We found that there were more men than women in the happiest profile although our sample was predominantly female (67.6%). This diverges from prior research in broader samples suggesting that women are either happier than men (or there is no significant difference between the two) in most countries,” the researchers added.
Prior studies have shown that adults with meaningful friendships are at a lower risk of suffering from depression, high blood pressure, and heart disease. However, although most women have higher levels of intimacy with their friends and better companionship at 19 than men, that intimacy diminishes throughout their 20s. Among men, while intimacy with friends was lower during early adulthood, it became stable during their mid to late 20s, according to a 2022 study published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. In fact, from the age of 25 to 30, the features of best friendship usually start decreasing mainly because of investments in romantic relationships that could result in changes in best friendship intimacy. “The decline in companionship observed after age 22 seems to reflect, in fact, adult responsibilities catching up,” the study authors noted.
But researchers insist that it is crucial for adults to continue prioritizing meaningful friendships beyond their early 20s.
“Given the interplay between friendships, well-being, and the profiles observed in our study, individuals may do well to capitalize on the opportunities emerging adulthood affords to create meaningful and lasting friendships with others,” the researchers concluded. The findings of the new study were published in PLOS One on October 2, 2024.
After all, unlike family relationships, friendships are voluntary and mutual relationships mainly because both parties enjoy each other’s company.
“Whether attending college, entering the workforce, or finding a romantic partner, emerging adults often experience various personal upheavals. Accordingly, the link between singlehood and happiness in the emerging adult population may not be a simple continuum,” the researchers wrote. “Modern emerging adults are unique in the sense that they face a host of new pressures, including social media, online dating, income inequality, pollution, the COVID-19 pandemic, and climate change, among others.”
The team recruited 1,073 single Americans aged 19 to 24 years old. All participants completed an online survey, which asked them to rate their satisfaction levels with friends, family, self-esteem, and extraversion. Most of them had a best friend at the time of the study.
“Our findings are a natural extension of existing research showing that friendship is an important determinant of happiness for emerging adults. Indeed, friends satisfy basic psychological and socializing needs, fulfill the desire to matter to others, and allow people to amplify good events by reliving them in supportive environments,” they explained. “We highlight that friendship is a noteworthy contributor to shape differences among single emerging adults—interacting with family satisfaction, self-esteem, and personality traits in complex ways.”
“We found that there were more men than women in the happiest profile although our sample was predominantly female (67.6%). This diverges from prior research in broader samples suggesting that women are either happier than men (or there is no significant difference between the two) in most countries,” the researchers added.
Prior studies have shown that adults with meaningful friendships are at a lower risk of suffering from depression, high blood pressure, and heart disease. However, although most women have higher levels of intimacy with their friends and better companionship at 19 than men, that intimacy diminishes throughout their 20s. Among men, while intimacy with friends was lower during early adulthood, it became stable during their mid to late 20s, according to a 2022 study published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.
In fact, from the age of 25 to 30, the features of best friendship usually start decreasing mainly because of investments in romantic relationships that could result in changes in best friendship intimacy. “The decline in companionship observed after age 22 seems to reflect, in fact, adult responsibilities catching up,” the study authors noted.
But researchers insist that it is crucial for adults to continue prioritizing meaningful friendships beyond their early 20s.
“Given the interplay between friendships, well-being, and the profiles observed in our study, individuals may do well to capitalize on the opportunities emerging adulthood affords to create meaningful and lasting friendships with others,” the researchers concluded. The findings of the new study were published in PLOS One on October 2, 2024.
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