Do you feel like you’re losing mates?
Well, you could be right. If you’re over 25, that is.
According to a study conducted by researchers at Aalto and Oxford universities, 25 is “peak friendship” age, and after that, they tend to dwindle.
For the research, the phone records of more than 3.2 million mobile users in Europe were analysed, and it was found that those aged 25 or under made more calls and spent a lot longer chatting.
From this, researchers deducted that we have more social connections at this age, and that the number of people we connect with lessens as the years go on.
Researcher Dr Sarah Gomillion explained on The Conversation:
“The big life events that usually come with age, such as marriage and parenthood, lead people to invest more of their time socialising with just a few close family members and friends.
“Later in life, retirement, health issues and the death of partners and friends can leave people socially isolated, although this can sometimes inspire older people to engage more with their community through volunteering and religious participation.”
Depressing in ways, however we choose to think of this as natural selection.
As we get older, it’s quality not quantity that counts.
