New MyIQ findings show that many adults maintain friendships they consider close despite limited disclosure and long gaps between in-person meetings.
Friendship has become an increasingly important part of the wider conversation about loneliness and social connection. Yet some of the most common ways of judging a friendship, how often people meet and how much they tell each other, do not always match how people describe their own closest relationships.
A MyIQ survey of 6,342 adults across six regions found that 47% have significant areas of their lives their closest friends currently know little or nothing about. Among 18-29-year-olds, the figure was 52%, compared with 43% among adults aged 40 and over.
The areas kept private extend across both intimate and practical parts of life. Among respondents whose closest friends knew little or nothing about significant areas of their lives, 39% cited their dating life and 35% cited finances. Career ambitions were cited by 31%, while 28% named their biggest insecurities and 26% pointed to family difficulties.
The findings show that substantial personal boundaries can remain inside relationships people still regard as close. Younger adults were more likely than older respondents to report that close friends lacked knowledge of major parts of their lives, even though the pattern changes when the focus shifts from disclosure to physical contact.
Across the full sample, 61% said they consider a friendship close even when they do not speak every day. At the same time, 44% said they have at least one close friend they see fewer than four times a year.
Adults aged 40 and over were more likely to report this kind of low-frequency friendship. In that group, 49% said they have a close friend they see fewer than four times annually, compared with 38% of respondents aged 18-29.
That age contrast is one of the clearest patterns in the survey. Younger respondents were more likely to keep significant parts of their lives outside their closest friendships. Older adults were more likely to sustain friendships across long periods without seeing one another. The two measures point to different ways distance can exist within relationships that people continue to describe as close.
Privacy also appears to be a deliberate feature of friendship for a majority of respondents. 58% said they would prefer their closest friends to know only the parts of their lives they choose to share. That preference helps distinguish limited disclosure from a simple absence of closeness: many respondents appear to see control over personal information as compatible with a close relationship.
The survey captures respondents’ descriptions of their friendships rather than the effects those relationships have on well-being. It cannot determine whether seeing a friend infrequently weakens a relationship, or whether keeping parts of life private reflects greater or lower satisfaction.
What the findings do establish is that contact frequency and personal disclosure do not fully account for how adults define their closest friendships. For a substantial share of respondents, a close friend can remain important without regular access to every part of their life.
About MyIQ:
MyIQ was launched in 2024 and is used by over a million individuals worldwide. It is a digital self-knowledge platform that offers more than an IQ score, with over 9 million completed tests across the various test categories: cognitive, personality, and relationships, all with personalised, actionable insights. The platform offers over 25 brain games, more than 150 intelligence puzzles, over 20 hours of expert video content, and 300+ available lessons on emotional intelligence, problem-solving, innovation, confidence-building, and decision-making. Through its IQ test, full-spectrum personality assessment, and relationship insight quiz, MyIQ delivers structured, personalized feedback that helps individuals better understand their inner world and behaviour.
MyIQ was launched in 2024 and is used by over a million individuals worldwide. It is a digital self-knowledge platform that offers more than an IQ score, with over 9 million completed tests across the various test categories: cognitive, personality, and relationships, all with personalised, actionable insights. The platform offers over 25 brain games, more than 150 intelligence puzzles, over 20 hours of expert video content, and 300+ available lessons on emotional intelligence, problem-solving, innovation, confidence-building, and decision-making. Through its IQ test, full-spectrum personality assessment, and relationship insight quiz, MyIQ delivers structured, personalized feedback that helps individuals better understand their inner world and behaviour.