Why Is Social Connection So Hard for Young Adults?

Greater Good Magazine

Social connectedness is vital to well-being, but members of Gen Z are hesitant about interacting with one another in today’s online and polarized world, says Stanford psychologist Jamil Zaki. That disconnection comes at a cost: Young adults increasingly report lower levels of happiness than middle-aged and older adults.

Zaki and Rui Pei, a postdoctoral scholar in his lab, recently coauthored a chapter on the importance of social connection to the mental health of young people in the 2025 World Happiness Report. Zaki is also the author of Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness.