Social Connection

Social Connection is arguably the most impactful pillar of positive psychology and for sustaining a happy and healthy life. According to one scientific study, the quality of our relationships is the number one predictor of how long we'll live, outweighing other strong predictors, such as obesity, smoking, and heart disease. Another study revealed that keeping consistent, healthy relationships improves our health by a whopping 46% more over keeping a consistent, healthy exercise routine or diet. Humans developed through evolution to be social beings, thriving off of how often and how well we contribute and communicate with others. When all humans lived in tribes, the loneliest people died first due to a lack of group protection. Today, we are no different; our bodies, minds, and souls crave others to feel love, belonging, and protection. However, happiness researcher, Johan Harri, alarmingly notes we are the first to "disband our tribes". He says that especially in our American culture of individualism, intensive use of technology, and the situational context of Covid, we are lonelier than we have ever been. It is imperative for the health and well-being of ourselves and others that we socially connect, in a skillful and healthy manner, as often and as in person as we can.

How to Connect in Healthy Ways

Scientific research has shown how having many low-quality connections with "friends and followers" cannot replace the benefits of having even just a few high-quality relationships. But, what is a high-quality relationship? How do we sustain healthy relationships with others? For starters, people who are lonelier tend to assume making relationships comes organically, thus they often do not put in enough effort to form one. In actuality, taking risks in putting ourselves out there and being vulnerable in skillful ways is how we can best form relationships. Some important keys to a healthy relationship are to be open to trust and honesty, to accept yourself and others for being your authentic selves, to have a large capacity for empathy and compassion, to practice gratitude with others, and to "savor the good and reframe the bad".