Air date: February 7, 2010

Host: Jeremy Shere, PhD

Email
Share this segment
Download MP3

Did you Know? is presented by Wishard Health Services, becoming Eskenazi Health in 2014.

Did you know that loneliness can be contagious?

We tend to think of emotions as personal, subjective experiences. After all, loneliness results from being alone.

But it's possible to feel lonely even when we're among people. And according to a recent study, loneliness can infect a social network.

Loneliness isn't just something we feel, the study's authors say. We express it, too. And the expression of loneliness can affect other people, causing them to feel lonely, too, and to cut social ties.

The best way to ward off loneliness, the study says, is to pay more attention to people on the margins on a group. Making them feel less lonely prevents their sad emotions from spreading and infecting the entire social network.

And now you know.

Additional Resources:

• And find still more about the loneliness study at the NYT.
• Some basics on the study from the U of Chicago newsroom.

Comments

Comments have been closed.