Nearly nine in ten American adults say they are open to making new friends, according to a new AARP study, even as many report that building those bonds gets measurably harder as they age.
The AARP Friendship Study, published by AARP Research, surveyed a nationally representative sample of adults nationwide about how they form, maintain and value friendships in a changed social landscape.
Openness remains high despite real barriers
Nearly nine in ten adults say they are open to making new friends.
At the same time, nearly half of adults say making new friends is harder as they get older, often citing time constraints among the main obstacles.
The pattern echoes what researchers have long described as a structural problem rather than a personal one. Adulthood simply removes the built-in settings, like classrooms, dorms and first jobs, that once threw people into regular contact with potential friends.
AARP researcher Kate Bridges led the project, which combined a broad national survey with in-depth interviews.
The research examined how, from the pandemic to new tech habits, adults are adapting to protect the friendships that support their well-being.
Age preferences split, but flexibility exists
The study also probed who adults actually want as friends. While many adults prefer friends their own age, just as many are open to friends of any age, suggesting the preference for same-age friendships is far from universal.
The same study found that more than half of adults already have a friend from another generation, defined as someone at least 15 years older or younger than themselves, most often connected through a shared interest, hobby or a mutual friend.
That combination of high existing cross-age friendship and strong stated openness suggests room remains for even more adults to form these bonds, rather than pointing to an unmet gap.
Methodology behind the numbers
The findings come from a nationally representative online survey of 1,488 U.S. adults age 18 and older, conducted from October 23 to November 10, 2025, with survey data weighted by generation to reflect the U.S. adult population.
AARP paired that quantitative data with qualitative work, running 45 minute online qualitative interviews with pairs of close friends, including same-age and intergenerational friendships.
The mixed approach let researchers attach real stories to the topline numbers, rather than relying on survey percentages alone.
Why the findings matter now
The results arrive as other recent consumer research shows Americans reshaping how they spend free time and build community.
Interest in slower, more deliberate social activities has grown, visible in trends like the expansion of in-person gatherings such as silent book clubs, which have spread into thousands of chapters worldwide as people look for low-pressure ways to be around others.
Other recent surveys point in a similar direction, including research on community engagement patterns that found distinct patterns in how Americans build local ties depending on where they live.
Taken together, the AARP data points to a straightforward conclusion. The desire for friendship has not faded among American adults, but the everyday structures that once made friendship easy to stumble into have largely disappeared.
That leaves most adults to build those connections more deliberately than previous generations needed to.
