Science Confirms That Every Single One Of Us Secretly Hates Going Out
Nobody wants to actually change out of their pajamas.
Stokkete / Shutterstock Do you secretly hate going out on a Friday night and hanging out with your friends? Have you ever been the person who cancels plans for lame reasons or feels a tremendous sigh of relief when plans are canceled on you?
If so, you’re not anti-social and you’re not secretly a crappy person. If you hate going out and find that staying home is a fun night, you’re not alone.
Many people ask themselves, "Why do I hate going out?" and may feel guilty that they prefer to stay home. But you don't have agoraphobia, a type of anxiety disorder; in fact, what you're experiencing is actually quite normal.
Because according to one study, everyone honestly hates going out.
You’re not a loner or a social reject who can’t handle the pressures of facing large groups in crowded rooms filled with sweaty strangers. Or maybe you are, but that’s okay.
It turns out that no one really wants to go out anyway and have a social life, so you aren’t the only one.
The study, which was run by Yelp Eat24, provided adults with questions trying to find out when they might have shirked their social responsibility and ditched their friends in order to hang out by themselves at home. Four out of five admitted they “made up excuses in order to avoid going out and instead played video games, ate in, or did chores.”
That seems like an awful lot of people lying their way out of what should be a fun evening and trading it to simply spend time with themselves at home.
A survey conducted in 2015 by the American Time Use Survey, researchers were able to take an in-depth look at the amount of time people actually spend doing what with their days.
The survey determined that of the time those surveyed spent during their waking hours, many people had only 41 minutes of their average day spent socializing with others. That’s pretty shocking when compared to the average of nine hours that we sleep, eight hours we work, and even the three hours on average we watch television.
Researchers also determined that the 41 minutes people spend socializing is even more pitiful than we believed. It’s actually fallen in the last decade by about 9%!
Why are people less likely to hang out in person?
This is an important question, especially when so much of our culture makes us believe that young people are supposed to be out enjoying the nightlife in order to live their lives to the fullest.
Perhaps it has to do with general malaise and simply not wanting to go out. It could also be that people are just spending more time on their couches at home, choosing to relax where they don’t have to put up with crowds and commitment.
It could even be, unfortunately, the fact that economic times are pretty tough. The cost of living continues to spike while minimum wage doesn’t increase, and many people are not getting paid what they are worth, even with college educations.
Going out can be expensive, so people are probably choosing to stay home rather than go out where they can save their money, enjoy entertainment on the television, and communicate with friends over email, social media, and their phones.
Regardless of the reason, it is true that people are lying more frequently about not being able to make get-togethers, parties, or even just inclusive social gatherings.
No one likes a last-minute plan-changer... unless you actually happen to be the person who’s utterly delighted to have your evening suddenly freed from the tyranny of “hanging out.”
But to everyone else, we should really just stop lying to one another about it.
Just go ahead and admit that you don’t want to go out. Chances are good the person you’re making plans with didn’t want to go, either.
Merethe Najjar is a professional writer, editor, SEO specialist, ghostwriter, and award-winning fiction author from Atlanta, Georgia. She has had multiple publications featured in The Aviator Magazine, Infinite Press, Yahoo, BRIDES, and others.