Social netwroks essential for adults' well-being
Healthy social relationships and connections have found to be beneficial
and a booster for adults, irrespective of the number of friends and how large
their circle is.
Stereotypes of aging tend to paint older adults in many cultures as sad and
lonely. But the research shows that older adults' smaller networks didn't
undermine social satisfaction and well-being. In fact, older adults tend to
report better well-being than younger adults, said the lead author of the
study.
Researchers analyzed data from 2 online surveys , a nationally
representative survey of adults recruited through a variety of approaches (
e.g. random digital dialing and address-based sampling).
Study participants assessed the number of people from different social
networks ( e.g., friends, family, neighbours) and peripheral others ( e.g.,
coworkers, school or childhood relations, people who provide a service) with
whom they had " regular contact in the past 6 months".
Contact included face-to-face, by phone or email or on the internet.
Participants also rated feelings of well-being over the prior 30 days.
Researchers found older adults had smaller social networks than younger
adults, but the number of close friends was unrelated to age.
Younger adults had large social networks consisting of mostly peripheral
others, perhaps because online social media networking sites have facilitated
the maintenance of increasingly large and impersonal social networks, according
to the authors.
Only the reported number of close friends was associated with social
satisfaction and well-being across the adult life-span. The relationship
between the number of close friends and well-being held, even after accounting
for the number of family members, neighbours and peripheral others, which was
not additionally associated with well-being.
The relationship of the reported number of close friends with greater
social satisfaction and well-being did not vary with age, suggesting the importance
of close friendships across the lifespan.
This is consistent with observed patterns among Facebook users who reported
greater well-being if they perceived more actual friends on their online social
networks, according to the researcher.
Loneliness has less to do with the number of friends you've, and more to do
with how you feel about your friends, she said.
It's often the younger adults who admit to having negative perceptions of
their friends. Loneliness occurs in people of all ages. If you feel lonely, it
may be more helpful to make a positive connection with a friend than to try and
seek out new people to meet, the researcher added.