What is telephobia? Why Gen Z, teens aren't picking up the phone
Bad news, scammers: Why Gen Z, teens aren't picking up the phone
Younger generations are moving toward other forms of communication such as through social media or just voice notes. (Credit: WNYW)
Call me, maybe? Or maybe not if it’s anyone who was born after 1997.
About one-quarter of people aged 18-34 never answer their phone when they receive a voice or audio call, according to data collected by Uswitch.com, a comparison and switching service.
Sudden voice calls = bad news
Big picture view:
Younger generations don’t mind speaking on the phone, however, they prefer for that call to be pre-arranged, according to Uswitch. An unscheduled phone call is assumed to mean bad news.
What they’re saying: "We just don’t do spontaneous phone calls anymore – I prefer a voice note, there’s much less pressure that way," Freya Mallard, 26, told Uswitch.
(File: D-Keine / Getty Images)
By the numbers:
About 68% of people aged 18-34 preferred a scheduled phone call.
Communication through social media
Communication through any means necessary outside of a voice call is the preferred method, according to Uswitch, and that includes social media.
By the numbers:
Communication via social media
- 18-34: 48%
- 55+: 11%
Prefer text messages
- 18-34: 61%
Desire to avoid scammers
Apart from potentially receiving bad news, the most popular reason for not answering voice calls was concerns over spam or scam callers.
By the numbers:
- 63% admitted spam calls were a reason they did not answer their phone
- 74% of people over 55 years of age said scam calls were a top concern
- 50% said they don’t answer their phone because they want "to find out who the person is first"
Women prefer to chat
Not every call goes unanswered, however.
Over half of adults (59%) who participated in the survey said they were still happy to have a "general chat" on the phone, but women were more likely to consider that as an acceptable reason versus men.
Forty-six percent of adults said they would love to get a phone call if it meant good news such as an engagement, promotion or a new baby.
Popular reasons for accepting a phone call:
- Informing someone of a death (57%)
- Going through a hard time (56%)
What is telephobia?
Telephobia is a kind of anxiety disorder in which an individual is afraid of either answering or making a phone call, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Dig deeper:
"This fear of phone calls can usually be associated with the fear of being criticized, judged, or rejected and can fall under the umbrella of social anxiety, affecting 15 million adults in the United States," according to the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
The Source: Information for this story came from a survey of 2,000 adults in the United Kingdom conducted by Uswitch from April 9, 2024–April 12, 2024. This story was reported from Los Angeles.