Research shows people aren’t lonelier — they’re changing how they spend their time

LAWRENCE — With National Friendship Day approaching Aug. 2, you might think it would be a melancholy one, given the loneliness epidemic gripping the nation. But is there such an epidemic? Recent research from the University of Kansas has found that how people spend time with friends and family is changing — but people are not necessarily lonelier.

Jeffrey Hall, professor and chairperson of communication studies at KU, is part of the American Friendship Project. Along with colleagues Natalie Pennington of Colorado State University and Amanda Holmstrom of Michigan State University, they study how and if people spend time with friends and family. Research from the project conducted in 2025 with more than 2,000 participants found that people may be spending less time with friends than they used to, but not necessarily because they have fewer friends.

Asked if they had visited with friends or family yesterday, 57% said they had, which was a drop from past survey responses found in polls conducted by the Princeton Survey Research Associates from 1995 to 2014. When asked how often they visit friends, 58.6% of Americans said they do so monthly or more, which also was a drop from the past. The changes reflect a broader societal shift.

“My read on the data is people are subbing a night out with friends for a night in with family,” Hall said. “Part of that is a culture shift. Some of it is technology. We’re seeing people are creating a comfortable home and hearth experience. It makes sense as things are very expensive, so people are creating a relaxing atmosphere at home.”

Financial reasons are high on the list of why people might not be visiting friends in person as much as they used to, according to the researchers. Hall provided the example of a night at the movies: Buying a ticket, concessions and related expenses cost much more than watching entertainment at home, while technology has made it much easier to stream nearly any movie or TV series. People in the survey also emphasized they do not have the time or are too tired for such outings as well, making a night in even more appealing.

While TV is still a central recreational activity at home, respondents in the study said resting or relaxing with family is their favorite way to spend an evening. This tracks with the reported barriers to going out, Holmstrom added.

“People who were unsatisfied with the time they spent with friends pointed to a lack of money and feeling too tired or busy to make time for friends,” she said.

Pennington added that mental health concerns are also a barrier.

“For some people, the easiest way to cope with mental health struggles may be to stay home rather than talk with their friends,” she said.

All that time at home and not with friends may seem to support the idea of loneliness, but the American Friendship Project data suggests otherwise. Respondents who prioritize spending time with both friends and family reported higher life satisfaction and less loneliness than those who did not.

“There is more than one way to find connection, and more people are doing it at home,” Hall said.

Taken as a whole, the findings show that people are in fact spending less time with friends and more with family. What has changed is how people prioritize their time and the reasons they don’t connect.

The American Friendship Project was created after the researchers conducted a study during the pandemic about people losing contact with others. The project has analyzed publicly available data from past surveys from organizations such as Gallup and Princeton Research and conducted its own studies as well to determine how friendship trends are changing.

“It seems people have friends, but what they really want is more time to spend with those friends,” Hall said. “We just thought the national narrative around friendship was not quite right. In some ways, this shift in how people prioritize friendship matches what they want and the barriers they face. Nonetheless, family and friends are still a central part of American life.”

With National Friendship Day approaching, spending time with or reaching out to a friend is still a good idea, regardless of how one goes about it.