Embedded Files
Date: January 6th
Location: Your couch! See your e-mail for the Zoom link!
Directions: See your e-mail for tips for signing into Zoom!
Connections
Connections
A fitting introduction to a lesson on connection and friendship:
A fun Golden Girls friendship fact: Betty White (Rose in the show) and Rue McClanahan (Blanche) were both competitive game show lovers and they often played word games together between show takes. If you are interested in watching the Golden Girls (again or for the first time), you can stream the show for free on Hulu or you can catch reruns on the Hallmark Channel!
So we know that watching shows about friendships is fun (and who wouldn’t want to be friends with Betty White?), and we know that we love the friends and family in our lives. Some of us have life long friends, while others form friendships for different seasons of their lives. Some have close, extended family, while others look to their community for close connections. Regardless of how we form connections with others, we know that they are important for our health, mentally and physically. When we covered loneliness a few weeks back, we discussed the decline that can be associated with loneliness and feeling a loss of connection. But does connecting with people have that much of a benefit?
According to an 80 year (ongoing!) study done out of Harvard, not only do our connections matter, they are one of the biggest things that matter!
Check out this Ted Talk summary of the study and their findings! (It’s one of my personal favorites.) This 12 minute recap of the Harvard Study of Adult Development results are illuminating in what truly influences our health and happiness.
If you want to read a bit more about the Harvard Study (that remains ongoing), you can check it out here:
social circles and aging
social circles and aging
Everything we do, or don’t do, impacts our brain in some way. Of course, there is still much we don’t know about our brain functions and how its function is influenced over time. We know that some things (exercise, not smoking) are positive for our overall physical and brain health and decrease our risk for cognitive decline. But we don’t know how to prevent cognitive decline altogether. As we learn more, we know that we can keep doing the things that seem to have positive effects on our brains and our overall health and happiness.
Another long term study, nicknamed the Nun Study, seemed to reveal strong links between social connections and larger social circles and reduced incidence of dementia. A group of nuns at Notre Dame was followed for a number of years and they committed to donating their brains for research after death. Throughout their time in the study, they reported on their diet, education, and general life experiences, to try to help researchers understand why some brains decline more than others, especially later in life. Surprisingly, the data showed that those who had larger, more varied vocabularies early in life tended to live longer, and those with larger socially active circles tended to have less cognitive decline later in life.
To watch a little bit about the study, check out this 8 minute video done by CNN:
Other studies, like a 2008 study from Kaiser Permanente, have found that active social networks protect brain cognition and help reduce the risk or delay the onset of cognitive impairment. In this study, women with larger social networks were 26% less likely to develop dementia, compared to those with small social networks. The women who had daily contact with friends and family cut their risk of dementia by as much as half!
Check out this quick (2 minute) video about the benefits of socializing:
social capital
social capital
Social connections and social circles are often referred to as ‘social capital’. Unlike physical capital, social capital is based on relationships and linkages to others. You can think of social capital as coming in 3 main forms:
Bonds - links to people close to you like family and friends, usually people who share our culture or ethnicity.
Bridges - links beyond our shared identity (families), usually to more distant friends or colleagues.
Linkages - links to those further up or down our social ladder.
Social capital can benefit us in a variety of ways - bonds can even help people secure jobs. Think of a time a friend or family members has recommended a job to you or advocated for you. That’s your social capital at work! Even bridges and links to others can serve that same function. Think of moving to a new place for a job; the bridges with your coworkers can help you form new bonds in your new place.
So how much social capital do you have? Those who are isolated, lonely, or keep away from others may have relatively low in person social capital. But those same people may also have high online social capital, in our increasingly digital world. Does physical social capital differ from online social capital? Researchers are still asking and examining that question, but to help, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, professor Dmitri Williams developed a quiz to help determine your social capital strengths and weaknesses. Check out the quiz here (information is not shared with other companies and responses are anonymized):
So how do you connect with others? Do you prefer in person connections or do you also enjoy online interactions as well? What is your favorite way to connect with others right now that we’re physically distancing ourselves from others?
Answer this short survey about how you connect with others!
works cited
works cited
Page updated
Report abuse