Loneliness is or can be contagious

2009/12/19 Lakar Iraizoz, Oihane - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Osasuna
• Medikuntza
• Giza zientziak

People who feel alone tend to transmit that loneliness to the people around them

Chicca Silva

It is a very interesting research topic for psychologists. One of the researchers who has participated in the research has been investigating solitude for ten years at the University of Chicago. The other two, one from the University of California and one from Harvard University, are experts in the field.

In the research carried out by the three, it is observed that people who feel alone move towards the ends of their social network with the passage of time and relate each time with fewer people. And they don't feel confidence in the rest of the people, which makes it difficult for them to make new friends.

In addition, they tend to have a timid, nervous and negative attitude with the few who are in contact with them, and, even involuntarily, they also encourage these friends on the edge of social fabric. In this way, little by little it is losing relationship with those few people, who also become more solitary.

Doing a social network, researchers have been able to check where people have moved with the passage of time (Photo: AndersSandberg).

A study to study heart disease

"How can some researchers come to make such claims?" One can ask oneself. Well, the three psychologists have not done a specific study to investigate it. However, they have taken advantage of an investigation that is being carried out in the American city of Framingham since 1948.

When the research began, in 1948, the goal was to see how the risk of heart disease changes in a given population. As a population, the inhabitants of Framingham were chosen in Massachusetts. Initially, 5,209 people participated in the research. With the passage of time, however, the descendants of the first participants have been incorporated into the research and about 12,000 people are already studying.

Just as the number of participants has been growing, the diseases investigated in them have been increasing. Based on this population, studies have already been carried out on obesity, smoking, etc. All of them have analyzed the extent of the characteristic, the disease or whatever, object of study in a given population.

People not only transmit negative characteristics, happiness is also contagious

Nicemonkey_Photoxpress

For this purpose, in addition to the parameters associated with heart disease, they make other measurements and questions to participants. The capacity for expansion of solitude has been analysed since 1971, when questions began to be raised about the degree of solitude and depression of people. They ask for example how many times it has been felt only last week. In addition, they know how many people each person has.

All this information has served researchers to create the social network of the city of Framingham, and see where each person is. In addition, since surveys have been conducted periodically over the past forty years, researchers have been able to check where people have moved into social fabric. And on the basis of this they have said all things.

However, it seems that people not only transmit negative characteristics. In fact, a study published earlier this year concluded that happiness is also contagious. The curious thing is that the study was carried out on the basis of this same population, used in the current study.

Published in Ortzadar