A few days ago, the headlines blared something akin to this Washington Post article:
Americans are far more socially isolated today than they were two decades ago, and a sharply growing number of people say they have no one in whom they can confide, according to a comprehensive new evaluation of the decline of social ties in the United States.
Naturally, the article goes into some detail about how sad it is that according to this survey, Americans are all alone in the world. They have no one they confide in, and their network of close relationships has dropped from about 3 to 2 in 20 years.
The study itself (which appeared in the June 2006 issue of the American Sociological Review) though, presents a far more complex picture where the researchers qualify their findings a lot more than the news accounts of the study do. For instance, the study authors acknowledge this finding is not consistent with other recent research into this issue (done by respected organizations such as the Pew Internet & America Life project). (The authors of the new study kindly suggest — naturally! — that their research is better than these other studies, but I take such boasting with a grain of salt.)
When new research conflicts with old research, the default assumption is not to trump the new research as somehow being “better” or more “definitive” in answering the question. Rather, researchers suggest this new finding needs to be further studied and, in the meantime, the results should be viewed as what they are — a tentative datapoint.
News organizations and the researchers themselves should do right by the public and say exactly this, but they gloss over the problems with the current study and its contradiction it presents with other research in this field. Until this discrepancy is resolved in future research, however, nothing much more can be said.
Are Americans really discussing personally important matters with less people today than in 1985?
Absolutely, it’s possible, since so many more modalities of communication and sharing have occurred in the past two decades. For instance, if I share my life in a blog, I can’t say I’m discussing personally important matters with X number of people — I could be doing it with thousands. But does it serve the same or a similar purpose for the person doing it? Absolutely. So while the researchers may have indeed found a reliable result, the conclusions they (and others) draw from that result could be astoundingly off.
Americans are not becoming more socially isolated, as the headlines blare. They are far more interconnected today, just in ways that researchers aren’t quite measuring adequately or accurately.
(12 votes, average: 3.33 out of 5)
Loading ...You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Links to This Article
From Psych Central's World of Psychology:
New Feature: Friday Flashback on Psych Central - World of Psychology (6/29/2007)
11 Comments to
“Are People More Socially Isolated Now?”
I was thinking just that. I feel that it is possible that in some ways we are less connected today. Yet, in other ways I feel like I have come home from college and was able to keep in touch with friends who without the internet or instant messenger I would probably not have kept in touch with. I feel I have been able to keep up relationships with friends in Australiza I would not have kept up otherwise. Now the real question is, is it possible that although the amount of friendships we could possibly keep up has increased, could the personal quality of each them decrease? For example, you can have a million friends but if you are on the cell phone, checking email, etc. while you are spending time with them, is that really spending time with them aat all?…Anyway, interesting blog.
hi…read over what you wrote again and I guess you do feel like people still have quality relationships or can express themselves through other means. It would be interesting if that study measured blogs, etc. Also when looking at another page it seemed to discount family members as companions but I could be wrong. Some people may have few friends but a huge close family. I think a lot of things have to go into these studies. Anyways, sorry if I misunderstood your point at first.
Hello, I just read the thoughts you share here. I am originally from Mexico so I have an open personality and making friends comes easy to me. I met my husband through the internet, married and went to live in Israel for 8 years. I am talking from my personal experience since I have lived in other cultures. Last year I moved to the US: In a year that I went to college and lived near Boston I was not able to make one good friend. Based on the percentage of shared time or friendships I have been able to make anywhere else, I came to the conclusion that Americans are very isolated people, or the culture supports isolation. People who “make it alone” are praised, sort of loner heroes. On the other hand I was able to create a deep relationship through the Internet and keep other old relationships alive in spite of the distance, so I know the power of this media to keep me connected with my friends, and with my whole life that has been lived in 3 different places. I still sometimes feel isolated, but most of the time I can connect with someone sooner than later. I am a therapist and deal with human relationships. Because of that and my personal life’s experience, I can affirm that yes, we can connect with others much more than without the web and -evidently- with many more people. On the other hand, like someone else answered here, my connection might not be as deep, I might not be able to concentrate, I am less present than when I can make eye contact. I might always feel attracted to maybe open my email and peek or make a note or something while the other one is talking to me… there are the 2 sides to this communication. I still left the US feeling that people there liked being much more isolated than in other countries I have lived in; where visiting each other, just dropping by or inviting people home is a central part of the culture, even a value!
I am doing a project at my school, and was wondering if anyone on here would be able to help me, if yall could my email is countrychick1205@yahoo.com. The subject on what I need to know is Is the new devolping technology making people become more socially isolated? And then I found this and thought that maybe yall could help.
emily,
I think that technology is causing people to become socially isolated. I too am doing that subject for psia modern oratory. I would advise starting research with the ipod. I can’t help you any more cause last year i made second in state and want to win this year
LOL, I am doing that subjust in PSIA also.
haha i am also doing that for PSIA
wooooahhh thats so weird. im doing that for PSIA too.
I think we’re definitely more socially isolated than in the past.
I collect diaries and letters of people who lived in the 19th century - ordinary people, not captains of industry or statesmen. There were two striking things about their social networks that are not common today -
1. The same names appear in many different contexts. A farmer might have a miller he takes his corn to. Later we see that the miller is also a deacon in the farmer’s church. The miller and the farmer train in the same militia.
By comparison most people today have single-point relationships. We may have work-friends, spouses, neighbors, or people we know through a hobby, but they are not the same people. In other words our relationships are held together by fewer threads.
2. In the diaries and letters, the people mentioned also knew EACH OTHER. E.g., the farmer’s wife sells eggs to the miller’s wife. The farmer’s neighbor might be in the same church or also use that miller for his grain. In other words they had true NETWORKS of relationships.
Technology such as the internet can make a person feel less alone, but it is no substitute to direct contact with other people.
I am always alone.
When I use the internet I feel less alone, but I still always feel alone.
im doing an essay on modern technolody leading to people becoming more isolated
despite e fact that there should b a sense of connectivity
Join the Conversation! Post a Comment:
Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 29 Jun 2006
