An 'Intimacy Crisis' Is Driving the Dating Divide

"In the US, nearly half of adults are single. A quarter of men suffer from loneliness. Rates of depression are on the rise. And one in four Gen Z adults-the so-called kinkiest generation, according to one study -have never had partnered sex. In an age of endless connection, where hooking up happens with the ease of a swipe and nontraditional relationship structures like polyamory are celebrated, why are people seemingly so disconnected and alone?"

""Our species is on the precipice of what I have come to think of as an intimacy crisis," Garcia writes in his new book, The Intimate Animal: The Science of Sex, Fidelity, and Why We Die for Love. Garcia suggests in the book that intimacy-not sex-is the "the most powerful evolutionary motivator of modern relationships," but that our hunger for it "has been stifled by and misdirected in today's digital world.""

"An evolutionary biologist and anthropologist who began his career studying hookup culture, Garcia is the executive director of the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University, a research lab known for its pioneering work on sexuality, online dating, and aging. (Sex may in fact improve with age, a recent report found). He's held the position since 2019, and in that time he has also served as the chief scientific advisor to Match, where he provides expertise for its annual Singles in America survey."

Nearly half of US adults are single, a quarter of men experience loneliness, depression rates are rising, and one in four Gen Z adults have never had partnered sex. Widespread digital connection and easy hookups coexist with persistent disconnection and solitude. Justin Garcia identifies an intimacy crisis in which intimacy, rather than sex, functions as the primary evolutionary motivator for modern relationships, yet modern life has stifled and misdirected the hunger for intimacy. Garcia is an evolutionary biologist and anthropologist who directs the Kinsey Institute, has advised Match, and investigates hookup culture, dating apps, and related social dynamics.

Read at WIRED