According to a recently released survey by the healthcare company Cigna, Gen Z is the loneliest generation followed by the millennials. Gen Z has an overall loneliness score of 48.3 and millennials have a score of 45.3. This survey has been conducted with more than 20,000 Americans who are 18 years and older.
The survey reveals several interesting points. First, using social media by itself does not indicate loneliness. Second, students report feeling lonelier than retirees. Lastly, there is little difference in average loneliness scores between men and women, and between different races. The survey also indicates that people who feel less lonely tend to have regular face-to-face interactions, are in good physical and mental health, maintain a balance in their daily activities, and have jobs.
Research also points out that levels of in-person interactions, physical and mental wellness and life balance are more likely to predict loneliness than social media usage. For instance, those respondents defined as very heavy users of social media have a loneliness score of 43.5 compared to the ones who never use social media with a loneliness score of 41.7.
Unfortunately, most young Americans have the feeling that they have to be busy all the time. Otherwise, they feel they will fall behind others and won’t be successful. Therefore, they spend work related time with their peers and this is not usually a high quality time. As a result, they don’t really get to know each other well enough to be real friends.
The worst part is that when these young adults find any time to rest or relax, they usually spend this time on their cell phones looking at their social media or surfing on the internet. Instead, if they call a friend to go out or go to gym to workout in their spare times, they feel guilty that they spend too much time for leisure and don’t work hard enough like others.
In order to prevent this loneliness, parents should oversee their children and encourage them to have enough sleep, balance between work and life, make some time for activities like going to a movie, a restaurant or shopping in the mall with friends, travel to a nearby place, do some sports to refresh their minds or anything that allows them to move away from their course work. Periods of these type will allow these young adults to rest and recharge. As a result, they will be able to work smarter and longer.