Gen Z wants true love, but they’re stuck in a self-improvement loop that keeps them from pursuing it. A new Match Group and Harris Poll survey calls it the “readiness paradox”—80% of Gen Z believe they’ll find love (the most optimistic generation), yet only 55% feel prepared for partnership right now. But it’s their own self-image that’s keeping them stuck. Many have sky-high standards for personal growth before they consider coupling up, feeling they can’t commit until they’ve been to therapy or worked through past relationship baggage. Nearly 60% of Gen Z women specifically say therapy is essential to relationship success, and many are waiting until they can “put their best selves forward” before dating seriously. Social media piles on the pressure in a different way: 81% who “hard-launch” on Instagram see it as an ironclad commitment, making the stakes to “put in the work” feel even more impossibly high. (Fortune)
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