Orlando, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — A former surgeon general of the U.S. once wrote “Loneliness and weak social connections are associated with a reduction in lifespan similar to that caused by smoking 15 cigarettes a day.” While that may seem extreme, in a survey from last year, 30 percent of adults in the U.S. said they feel lonely at least once a week, and 10 percent feel lonely every day. The survey defined loneliness as not having a sense of belonging, so what can people do to get that sense back? Weak Ties
Your spouse, kids, parents, siblings, and your BFF, you can probably name your close ties, but what about your weak ties?
Weak ties are the people you see at your local coffee shop, gym, work, even neighbors you meet when walking your dog.
Experts say that people who interacted with more weak ties had a greater sense of well-being and belonging. Edliz Vazquez discovered this when she moved to a new city.
“I didn’t really have a community and so my weak ties actually led to close ties,” said Edliz Vazquez, LPC, LMHC, NCC, National Certified Counselor.
Weak ties have their strength not only in belonging and overall happiness, they also can expose you to new ideas that you wouldn’t learn otherwise.
“They can also lead to social cohesion, right? If you are kind of in an echo chamber of the same kind of people, the same kind of thought processes, weak ties help you branch out of those echo chambers,” explained Vazquez.
So next time you’re next to someone you see often, but don’t know, say hi. That short exchange can have a bigger impact than you realize.
The theory of “the strength of weak ties” was first published in 1973 in terms of employment opportunities, and a 2022 MIT study found that more weak ties led to more job mobility in the tech industry.
Contributors to this news report include: Marcy Wilder, Producer; Bob Walko, Editor.
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Sources:
https://ourworldindata.org/social-connections-and-loneliness
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/22/health/seniors-acquaintances-happiness.html?smid=url-share
https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2022/09/real-strength-weak-ties
https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2022/09/real-strength-weak-ties
