Why you need one meaningful social interaction a day |
On the days when he’s not in front of a classroom of students, University of Kansas professor Jeffrey Hall is heads down in his office writing, reviewing studies and papers, answering emails, combing through data. Before he knows it, he hasn’t spoken to a single person in hours. When he finally emerges, he has two options: to grind away and continue ignoring fellow faculty and students, or, to pop into a colleague’s office to see how they’re doing, to offer a quick hello to passersby.
Hall has co-authored numerous studies, and now a new book, that urges all of us to pick the latter option, and to reap the benefits of a life lived socially. One study, for example, found that people who had more social interactions over the course of four weeks had greater well-being. Another showed that having just one quality conversation with a friend each day can improve mental health.
These habits help form what Hall and his co-author Andy Merolla, a professor at the University of California Santa Barbara, call the social biome, a way of thinking about the entire range of your social interactions. A healthy social biome is one with variety — among the types of people we talk to and the kinds of conversations we have — as well as alone time.
Hall and Merolla distilled their research as well as the studies of other social scientists into their book The Social Biome: How Everyday Communication Connects and Shapes Us. Not only do Hall and Merolla outline the reasons why we’re sometimes reluctant to connect with others (being social requires energy and people are messy), but they also offer simple correctives. Here are seven simple strategies Hall and Merolla recommend that can help pull you out of isolation, have better interactions, and improve your social biome. No social overhaul necessary.
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