What prevents people from making friends: The most important factor was “Low trust,” followed by the “Lack of time” and the “Introversion;” significant sex-differences were found for 3 out of the 6 factors

What prevents people from making friends: A taxonomy of reasons. Menelaos Apostolou, Despoina Keramari. Personality and Individual Differences, Volume 163, September 1 2020, 110043. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110043

Highlights
• Developed an evolutionary theoretical framework for understanding why people face difficulties in making friends
• Identified 40 reasons which prevent people from making friend
• Identified six factors which prevent people from making friends
• Found significant sex and age effect in the factors which prevent people from making friends

Abstract: Friendship constitutes an important aspect of human experience. Yet, it is not always easy to make friends, and the current research aims to understand the reasons which constrain people from doing so. More specifically, using qualitative research methods, we identified 40 reasons which prevented people from making friends. Using quantitative research methods, we classified these reasons in six broader factors. The most important factor was “Low trust,” followed by the “Lack of time” and the “Introversion.” Significant sex-differences were found for three out of the six factors, with the largest one being in the “Low trust,” where women gave higher scores than men. Finally, we found significant age effects for almost all factors.

Keywords: FriendshipEvolution of friendshipsDifficulties in making friendsMaking friendsEvolution of friendship