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Study finds rekindling old friendships as scary as making new ones

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2024-05-05 18:00:05

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Psychologists from Simon Fraser University (SFU) and the University of Sussex have found that people are as hesitant to reach out to an old friend as they are to strike up a conversation with a stranger, even when they had the capacity and desire to do so. The new research is published today in the journal Communications Psychology.

Scientific research has shown that social relationships are important to human happiness, and that the greater the number and range of friendships that we engage with, the better our well-being. But once relationships are formed, some will naturally wax and wane, with many of us losing touch with friends and family that we were once close with.

As old friends who had reconnected themselves, Professor Lara Aknin from SFU and Dr. Gillian Sandstrom from the University of Sussex in Brighton (U.K.) were keen to find out what stops other people from doing the same.