When we think about health, what comes to mind is diet and exercise, most often. We don’t often consider the important role our relationships play in shaping our overall health and well-being.
There’s a reason why the very first practice in The Weekend Reset is “Connect”… it reflects the importance of carving out time in our busy lives for relationship-building.
In this post, I’ll highlight an article from Carnegie Mellon by Sheldon Cohen and Denise Janicki-Deverts. They examined research over several decades that sheds light on how the diversity and strength of our social relationships can positively impact our health throughout our lives.
What’s the Connection Between Social Integration and Health
Cohen and Janicki-Deverts use the term social integration to refer to the variety and number of social relationships we maintain. This includes relationships with family, friends, and others in our communities. Studies show that people with more diverse social networks appear to live longer, have less cognitive decline, and experience better outcomes when confronted with chronic illnesses.
Key Research Findings
Their research suggests a few key ideas
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Living Longer: People with a number and variety of relationships have a better chance of living longer. For example, if you have a partner, and also have close friends and neighbours, and belonging to social and religious groups there are decreased mortality rates.
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Cognitive Health: The better the social integration, the slower their decline is and the lower their chance of dementia.
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Resistance to Disease: The more resilient your social network is, the less vulnerable you are to infection, such as the common cold (the upper respiratory disease research has shown this).
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Chronic Illness Improvements: In the case of chronic illness, including cardiovascular disease or cancer, better prognoses and reduced recurrence among socially integrated patients.
The aim, they say, is to create rich and diverse social networks to live longer, healthier lives.
What Our Social Connections Say About Health and Wellbeing
1. Stress Regulation
Social bonding is a way of offset the effects of stress. People with support have lower the burdens of stress, and so a lower risk of cardiovascular, endocrine and immune problems.
2. Healthy Behaviors
Healthier behaviour can be encouraged by social connection. Friends and family, for example, might push you to exercise, eat better, and follow doctor’s orders. The reverse is true for loneliness which leads to poor behaviours or a sedentary lifestyle.
3. Emotional Well-being
Having many social circles and relationships can decrease loneliness and increase resilience. Emotional care can also decrease the effects of life stress (including mortality risk after major life events).
4. Body Responses
Social interactions influence biological processes. Positive relationships have been shown to increase immunity, decrease inflammation, and support cardiovascular wellbeing – which all link directly to improved physical health.
The Price of Social Isolation
Understanding the challenges posed of isolation leads us to appreciate the benefits presented by strong social networks. Indeed, loss of social contacts, poor contact or negative interaction, and feelings of loneliness are real issues that have been shown to cause things such as:
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Increased Mortality: Loss of intimate partners due to circumstances such as divorce or the death of a spouse leads to an increased chances to be sick or to die.
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Cardiovascular and Immune System Impairment: Loneliness and having social antagonism can cause impairment to normal functions of the immune system and the cardiovascular system.
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Decreased Mental Health: With the increased level of loneliness, there is increased risk of worsening depression and anxiety which will then lead to deterioration of one’s health status.
“The quality of your life is the quality of your relationships.” – Tony Robbins
Important Points to Note
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Life Expectancy: The more social relationships a person has, there are higher chances of that person living long, according to studies social integration is said to decrease mortality rates.
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Cognitive Health: More socialization leads to slower cognitive decline and a lower risk of dementia.
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Disease Resistance: People with stronger social ties and contacts were able to fend off common infections, like colds, better.
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Chronic Illness Outcomes: People with chronic conditions, like cardiovascular disease or cancer, have better overall outcomes.
These findings show the importance of building and maintaining diverse and meaningful relationships throughout our lives.
The Way Forward
To understand the benefits of having a wide variety of social networks, researchers and practitioners should explore a few areas such as:
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How does having many diverse social networks impact emotional regulation and resilience?
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Can experimenting with strategies improve weak social connections or help individuals build new relationships?
Understanding these ideas may help to map out strategies to help people improve their wellbeing, particularly as they age.
“Connection is why we’re here; it is what gives purpose and meaning to our lives.” – Brené Brown
Practical Steps You Can Take to Build Relationships
While the research continues to evolve, there are steps everyone can take to improve their relationships and their health. The Weekend Reset Challenge proposes things that only take a few minutes, and others that are a bit more involved (and rewarding)!
Ideas to Connect When You Don’t Have Much Time
- Send a voice memo
- Go for a walk
- Create a group chat
- Send a note of appreciation
- Give a compliment
- Video chat with someone
- Smile at someone
- Send a meme
- Call on your commute
- Share a selfie
- Send a song or video that reminds you of a shared memory
Ideas to Connect When You Have More Time
- Host a potluck dinner
- Take a class together
- Volunteer
- Start a virtual or in person book club
- Go for a walk or hike
- Plan a monthly meet up
- Do a challenge together (maybe The Weekend Reset Challenge??)
- Celebrate…anything!
- Create a shared playlist
- Attend a concert or festival
- Join a church or community group
What About Virtual Connections?
Digital connections make it easy to keep in touch with friends far away. But, we must also spend time with people face-to-face. Both are important in helping us build strong, meaningful relationships.
Using Technology to Maintain Connections
Video calls, social media, and messaging apps can help us stay close to our friends. They let us share moments and offer support, especially when we are pressed for time.
Virtual Communities and Support Groups
Online groups and communities are great for finding support and finding new connections and interests. Being active in these spaces can make us feel connected and improve our well-being. Consider joining The Weekend Reset Online Community!
“Technology is a useful servant but a dangerous master.” – Christian Lous Lange
Final Thoughts
The evidence is clear: our social networks have a huge effect on how long we live and how well we feel. By expanding our relationships with people who have different ties and different interests, we can not only improve our health but also quality of life. As Cohen and Janicki-Deverts discuss, there is more research needed to study these effects and what interventions might make a difference.
But the path forward is promising—both for researchers and for individuals seeking to live healthier, more connected lives.
This weekend, think about your relationships. Who are the people who bring joy to your life and are there when you need them? How can you foster those connections or build new ones?
Your health—and happiness—may depend on it all.
Join The Weekend Reset Challenge to find a community of people focused on building healthy habits. You never know the bonds you might build…and increase the diversity of your own social relationships.
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