I was pleasantly surprised to find out that my “unc” status isn’t a bad thing. Kids use the term, which jokily refers to an older person’s age, as a form of gentle teasing, but it’s a lot less harsh than “OK, Boomer”. No – the Gen Z and Gen Alpha label I fear the most is “low-vibrational”. TikTok after TikTok warns viewers to steer clear of “low-vibrational people” at all costs. Those who fall into the camp “just want to see what they can gain from people,” one video said: another describes the haunting feeling of coming to “awareness” after a period of “low vibrational activity”. But what does the term actually mean, and how is it applied? What does a “low vibrational” person mean? There are simply too many interpretations of the term to give a single definition here. The phrase seems alternately to mean unwholesome, self-serving, negative, drama-seeking, materialistic, and exhausting.A non-specific spiritual element is often associated with the term. Some believe it refers to the “vibrations” they think we emit to the universe through our behaviour and/or character, a frequency they feel they must protect.“It has roots in spiritual communities – specifically Dr David Hawkins’ Map of Consciousness, which categorises emotions like shame, guilt, and fear as ‘low frequency,’” Matthew J Greenwood, a couples therapist at Conscious Couples Therapy, said. But the term has morphed since. Extremely broadly, it appears to mostly refer to someone who might interrupt your own perceived upward trajectory.Perhaps it’s no coincidence that “vibrations”, the long form of the more general “vibes”, is used here.Frankly, it seems that there are no rules to being, or not being, a low-vibrational person. I often wonder whether most cases of the term couldn’t be replaced with a less ontologically damning “bad vibes”.Lorraine Watts, a family law solicitor at HCB Widdows Mason, said it reflects a trend she’s seen in her practice: “In recent years, we’ve seen a shift in how people describe the breakdown of their marriages.“It’s no longer just about ‘unreasonable behaviour’ or a specific event like infidelity. Increasingly, clients are identifying a fundamental mismatch in personal growth trajectories – what many now call a ‘vibrational’ gap.”The term might reflect incompatibilityTherapist Greenwood said that the broadening of the term might not always be a bad thing. “As a couples therapist, I interpret ‘low vibrational’ through a psychological lens: it typically signals a lack of emotional intelligence, which can manifest as a fixed mindset where an individual resists personal growth, stays stuck in chronic negativity, or relies on patterns of blame and victimhood,” he said.“We are seeing this terminology surge on TikTok and dating apps because it provides an accessible way to categorise ‘toxic’ behaviours.“In a fast-paced digital world, labels like ‘low-vibe’ help individuals – particularly younger generations – quickly validate their intuition and prioritise self-care over ‘fixing’ a partner.” In other words, the therapist said it might be a helpful way to justify leaving someone who you feel, for reasons you can’t quite articulate, incompatible with (which, like the “ick”, I feel has both pros and significant cons).However, he added, “While this trend is a healthy exercise in boundary setting, we must be careful not to use it to bypass the hard work of communication.“Ultimately, a ‘high-vibrational’ relationship isn’t one without problems, but one where both partners possess the emotional tools to evolve together.”Related…Gen Alpha Seem To Be Bringing This Millennial Slang Word BackAs ‘Skibidi’ Joins The Dictionary, How Much Teen Slang Do You Know?Don’t PMO – How Much Gen Alpha Slang Do You Know? HuffPost UK – Athena2 – All Entries (Public) Read More