Gamophobia as a Psychosocial Crisis among Generation Z in Building Family Life: An Islamic Guidance and Counseling Perspective

Abstract

Over the past decade, Generation Z Muslims have faced increasingly complex psychosocial dynamics in interpreting marriage and family life. One emerging phenomenon is gamophobia, characterized by fear, anxiety, and avoidance of marital commitment and its accompanying responsibilities. This issue reflects not only individual psychological struggles but also broader structural and cultural transformations shaping the younger generation’s life orientation. This article examines gamophobia as a psychosocial crisis among Generation Z Muslims and explores the strategic role of Islamic guidance and counseling in addressing it. Using a qualitative-conceptual approach, the study integrates contemporary psychological theories with a normative-contextual Islamic counseling framework grounded in the Qur’an, Hadith, and classical Islamic scholarship. The findings indicate that gamophobia is influenced by family trauma, economic instability, shifting social values, digital culture, and weakening spiritual orientation. These factors contribute to heightened anxiety toward long-term commitment and delayed marriage. From an Islamic counseling perspective, gamophobia represents a crisis of meaning in understanding marriage as mithāqan ghalīẓan. Islamic guidance offers a holistic response through spiritual strengthening, emotional healing, cognitive restructuring, and internalization of Islamic values, reconstructing marriage as worship, tranquility (sakinah), and a path toward personal and spiritual growth.