Loneliness spreads in social networks

Tomas Segovia
Soc 313-003
Blog Post #2

I read this article off of CNN that claims that loneliness can travel from person to person. The article describes how happiness, obesity, smoking and many other behaviors and habits are contagious among groups of people who know one another. Specifically, the behaviors of lonely people influence others to also become lonely. They define loneliness as as perceived social isolation. Therefore it's not based on the number of people around you but rather the quality of the relationship which determines whether or not someone feels isolated. Another point they also made was that mood did not affect the "transfer" of loneliness, so essentially people who are "happy" but lonely could still behave in a manner which influences others to be lonely as well.

At first glance it might not seem like this article has anything to do with social control but in fact it does. It addresses the "informal" side of control in our society because what this article is saying is not that loneliness can actually travel from one person to the other but rather that it is the behaviors of individuals that influence others in behaving the same way; and that loneliness is just an overall consequence of mimicking those behaviors. In social situations people act off the behavioral ques of others that help them determine how to act. Peer pressure or other influence might force us to act a certain way at first but after time we internalize repeated behavior. Therefore, control can come from others and the influence they have on us.



http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/12/04/loneliness.social.network/index.html