Making Friends as an Adult

This is a joke, please do not handcuff random people into friendship.

If you’re a working adult and you feel like you are having a hard time making friends, you’re not alone. A study reveals that adults typically maximise their social connections by the age of 25 (Bhattacharya, Kunal et al, 2016). This isn’t breaking news as  a web-based survey discovered that a whopping 40% of people aged 16 to 24 years old reported to be struggling with loneliness (Shah, H. A., & Househ, M., 2023).

Reasons for their loneliness vary from person to person, but the most striking cause of this epidemic is the failure to form genuine connections. In a fast-paced society, the bulk of our interactions take place in communities, whether it is in school, chilling with your friends or at work having lunch breaks with colleagues. Commonality is the root of all connections, so the moment that commonality ends the respective social circles eventually disappear with it. Hence, the effort to reconnect becomes a secondary priority, and distance is expected.

Nevertheless, all endings lead to new beginnings, especially since every phase of life promises a new community with bountiful friends! One of the best ways to make new friends as an adult is to find common interests with people you meet for the first time. Friendship is often based on shared experiences, so recognising the passion that brings people together enables everyone to be understood and feel heard (Mangen, Kathryn, 2020). If entering a community is not in the books for you, then another great tip is to volunteer. Fortunately, Singapore has a myriad of volunteering opportunities where you can meet like-minded people who share the same passion. In fact, research has shown that volunteering leads to an increase in the number of friendships and degree of social connectedness amongst volunteers (Nichol, B. et al, 2023).

Evidently, making new friends as an adult is possible despite the challenges posed by life's stages. What matters is the conscious act of building on connections grounded in common spaces and experiences that bring out the best in people.

Writer: Fadilah

Published: 10/07/2026

References:

Bhattacharya, K., Ghosh, A., Monsivais, D., Dunbar, R. I., & Kaski, K. (2016). Sex differences in social focus across the life cycle in humans. Royal Society open science, 3(4), 160097. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160097

Shah, H. A., & Househ, M. (2023). Understanding Loneliness in Younger People: Review of the Opportunities and Challenges for Loneliness Interventions. Interactive journal of medical research, 12, e45197. https://doi.org/10.2196/45197

Contributor, S. (2021). Friendship – how to make friends as an adult. Retrieved from https://chhs.source.colostate.edu/friendship-how-to-make-friends-as-an-adult/

Nichol, B., Wilson, R., Rodrigues, A., & Haighton, C. (2023). Exploring the Effects of Volunteering on the Social, Mental, and Physical Health and Well-being of Volunteers: An Umbrella Review. Voluntas : international journal of voluntary and nonprofit organizations, 1–32. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-023-00573-z