There is a loneliness epidemic, and it is affecting people from all ages. A recent study, conducted by the American Enterprise Institute, suggests that the proportion of people who can name six close friends has dropped from 55% to 27% since the 1990's and one in five single men say they do not have any close friends. According to the Guardian, while the pandemic has increased experiences of loneliness, people were struggling long before as a YouGov study carried out in 2019 suggested that 9 in 10 people between the age of 18-24 suffered from loneliness to some degree, and nearly half had difficulty making friends.
The challenges with making friends differ for men and women. The study entitled 'Gender Differences in Friendship Patterns' finds that women are more intimate and emotional in their same-sex friendships than men, women also tend to place a higher value on these friendships than men do. Women emphasized talking, emotional sharing, and discussing personal problems with their same-sex friends, and men showed an emphasis on sharing activities and doing things with their men friends. This is largely because men are socialized to not share their feelings. Being a man means going it alone. Results from this study suggest that men need to be socialized to express their emotions to form intimate and more beneficial same-sex friendships.
The friendship gender gap can have significant consequences as men face higher rates of isolation, loneliness, depression and even suicide. We all need connection in some way or another. On today's episode Adam Smiley Poswolsky author of Friendship in the Age of Loneliness, will join us to share how we can form meaningful friendships and create belonging at work and in life.
Lauren von Stackelberg and Maya Prabhu: Women Working In Male Dominated Industries (Part 1)
Brittany Howard and Jennifer Breithaupt: See Her, Hear Her
Julie Cordua: Fighting Online Child Sexual Abuse
Julia Gillard: Calling Out Misogyny
Donna Carpenter: When Brands Take A Stand
Sofia Vergara and Renata Black: Breaking the Poverty Cycle, One Underwear at a Time
Teddy Quinlivan: Confronting Negative Stereotypes
Liezel Strauss: Art Girl Rising
Diane Von Furstenberg: Empowering Women Survivors
Tamara Gillan and Lisa Francis: An Open Dialogue About Women’s Wealth
Sylvia Acevedo: Teaching Girls to Become Digital Leaders
Scott Beth: How To Be An Ally
Katty Kay: Closing the Confidence Gap
Tina Brown: Supporting The Global Sisterhood
Cara Pelletier: What the Best Place for Women to Work Looks Like
Alexander Haslam: Beyond the Glass Ceiling, the Glass Cliff
Sascha Mayer: Transforming the Culture of Breastfeeding at Work
Abby Wambach: We Are The Wolves
Special Episode: Stop Fixing Women
Dr. Michael Kaufman: Why Men Must Join The Gender Equality Revolution
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