The benefits of intergenerational friendships

A new survey on adult friendships found that having friends of a different generation brings unique benefits. 90% of adults believe friendships are essential to a happy and healthy life. Even though close friends are often similar in age, nearly four in ten adults have a close friend who is at least 15 years older or younger than them (Levy & Thayer, 2019).

People with a close intergenerational friend agree that having friends in a distinct age group has benefits different from the benefits of friendships among people of the same age. Intergenerational friends offer company, fun, and enjoyment in unexpected ways, providing new and varied experiences. Older or younger friends provide access to diverse forms of support, such as practical advice, perspective-taking, role model, insights, or physical care (Korkiamäki, O’Dare, 2021; Levy & Thayer, 2019). Generally, people with intergenerational friendships are likelier to have a positive attitude about ageing (Levy & Thayer, 2019).
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Having intergenerational friendships has several benefits. Friendships which we can establish, for example, in intergenerational activities carried out in the communities, as those that will be developed under the PAGES project, stay informed of our activities by following our pages.
 
Read more about it here:
https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/4555/4555

https://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/research/surveys_statistics/life-leisure/2019/friendship-across-the-ages.doi.10.26419-2Fres.00314.002.pdf

References:
Korkiamäki, R., & O’Dare C. (2021). Intergenerational friendship as a conduit for social inclusion? Insights from the “Book‐ends. Cogitatio, 9(4), 304-314. https://doi.org/10.17645/si.v9i4.4555
Levy, V., and Thayer, C. (2019). The Positive Impact of Intergenerational Friendships - Friendship: attitudes and behaviours across the ages. AARP Research. https://doi.org/10.26419/res.00314.002

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