An ‘Intimacy Crisis’ Is Driving the Dating Divide

In his book The Intimate Animal, sex and relationships researcher Justin Garcia says people have miscalculated their need for human intimacy, which is the real issue at root of the loneliness epidemic.

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?

Chalk it up to changing social norms or shifting generational attitudes around relationships. But the bigger issue at play, according to Justin Garcia, is that we just don’t crave intimacy in the same way we used to. “Our species ...