I am responding to the article “Loneliness may be contageous”,from December 1, 2009. While results of the study seem intuitively correct — people who feel lonely have fewer social contacts — I totally disagree that loneliness is contagious.

The notion that “more people” feel lonely can hardly be denied, but to assume that loneliness is spreading between social networks sounds like a sketch.

First, loneliness is only recognized in highly developed societies. But even in those countries, people in the poorest stratum appreciate social contacts, because people need other people for their survival. However, rich individuals with abundance of wealth may be at greater risk of being lonely due to their lack of need for others.

Other factors that contribute to the decline in close relationships are: long work hours, high rate of exploitation at work, chronic feeling of tiredness, long commutes, remote locations of friends’ houses, the popularity of Internet, and lack of affordable recreation facilities.

Possibly, we just shift in the form of connection with the usage of new technologies to stay in touch with kin and friends – cell phones, instant messengers, Internet, and so on.

If we are to move in the direction to reduce loneliness, new values that are favorable to a sense of community, better parenting skills, expansion of new recreational facilities, and changes in social policies which will offer a less segregated living must emerge.

So, what, do we kill all the introverts? Or protect them as a class under the Americans with Disabilities Act?

http://www.spiritualityhealth.com/spirit/archives/actually-it’s-happiness-loves-company

This research, as well as the earlier study, seems a little sketchy to me. With the right statistical package, you can find correlations in almost anything.

1. I think it is very interesting that a spouse would only experience an 8% chance of increased happiness, a friend 25% and a neighbor over 30%. It seems happiness is only more contagious when there is less of a relationship between the two individuals. Of course, this supports the “smile and it will make others around you smile too” theory; however, it is interesting in the perception the closer you are to a person, the less influence your mood has on them.

2. It appears a negative feeling like loneliness is more contagious than a more positive emotion like happiness. I would be very interesting in seeing the percentage results based on the different relationships. Is this a negative of the response happiness got (ie, your spouse is more likely to feel lonely while a neighbor has less impact because the relationship status)? Of course, it also suggests the truth behind humans tend to focus on the negative – perhaps we are inately more susceptible? Dunno…

but interesting nonetheless.