New Research Reveals Half of Brits Admit to Being Scared of Change

From meeting new people, to using contactless card machines - more than HALF of Brits admit they HATE change, according to a new study.

A nationwide study into British lifestyles and attitudes has revealed as many as 27 percent of Brits claim they are actually “panicked” by change, and nearly a quarter admit they are scared to do something different to their usual routine.

In fact, a fear of the unknown has led to 22 percent of Brits staying in a job they hate, 15 percent walking away from a new relationship, and nearly one in ten were too AFRAID to go on the holiday of a lifetime.

The study, by award-winning cloud accounting provider FreeAgent, found many of the fears about change are unfounded, as 19 percent had been suspicious of online banking, and a further one in five had worried about contactless payments - despite now embracing all these new technologies.

As many as 71 percent confess that any sort of variation in their lives can be hard to cope with, while eight in ten admit they have missed out on golden opportunities in the past, because of their unadventurous nature.

43 percent of Brits say their biggest concern for the immediate future is financial security, closely followed by Brexit at 42 percent, and economic uncertainty at 24 percent. The research also found that six percent of Brits are concerned about digitally submitting their taxes through the new Making Tax Digital legislation.

A further, 38 percent of Brits say they would feel more confident if they were more open to change, and 34 percent even believe they would have more money. In fact, 32 percent believe they would have stepped outside their comfort zone.

Nearly seven in ten Brits (68 percent) believe that a fear of change is irrational.

In fact, 13 percent of Brits admit to not updating software on their devices because they didn’t want to deal with the change it would bring, and 15 percent have doggedly stuck to the old way of doing things at work, despite new and more efficient systems having been introduced.

And the issue also applies to smaller day to day decisions, with nearly one in ten Brits reporting they have not switched energy suppliers, despite better offers being available with other providers, while 13 percent have stayed with their bank, even if the service they’ve received leaves a lot to be desired.

Ed Molyneux, Founder and CEO of FreeAgent, said: “We wanted to look at the nation’s change culture, and it’s startling to see how hard the majority of Brits finds it to deal with change of any sort. However, it’s also interesting that in many cases this fear of change actually turns out to be unfounded.

“With the deadline for Making Tax Digital approaching and causing concern among freelancers and the self-employed, it’s likely that these fears will also prove unwarranted - especially if they invest in suitable HMRC-recognised accountancy software”.

The study found that Oxford is the most nervous capital in the UK, with residents there most resistant to change.

While those in Edinburgh and Plymouth are the most adventurous, better at embracing change than any other cities.

Over 80 percent of the nation admit to having major regrets about not adapting to new things in the past, with nearly 75 percent confessing that life would be better if they were more open to change.