Annenberg Networks Network » contagion http://ascnetworksnetwork.org ascnetworksnetwork.org Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:24:33 +0000 en hourly 1 Contagious Loneliness http://ascnetworksnetwork.org/contagious-loneliness http://ascnetworksnetwork.org/contagious-loneliness#comments Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:00:19 +0000 Lauren http://ascnetworksnetwork.org/?p=540 The Washington Post has a new article citing Cacioppo’s article in the Descember issue of Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. The article focuses on how loneliness can spread through social networks using data from the Framingham study.

As the article says,”Although it may sound counterintuitive, loneliness can spread from one person to another, according to research being released Tuesday that underscores the power of one person’s emotions to affect friends, family and neighbors.” The article concludes, “The findings underscore the importance of social networks, several experts said. ‘For years, physicians and researchers thought about individuals as isolated creatures,’ said Stanley Wasserman, who studies social networks at Indiana University. ‘We now know that the people you surround yourself with can have a tremendous impact on your well-being, whether it’s physical or psychological.’”

Full article here

]]> http://ascnetworksnetwork.org/contagious-loneliness/feed 0 Is Happiness Catching? http://ascnetworksnetwork.org/is-happiness-catching http://ascnetworksnetwork.org/is-happiness-catching#comments Wed, 16 Sep 2009 07:40:54 +0000 Lauren http://ascnetworksnetwork.org/?p=417 In the New York Times Magazine, Clive Thompson writes an extensive article on Christakis’ and Fowler’s user of the Framingham Study to examine contagion processes of social behaviors. The article includes interviews with a variety of social networks researchers and a good analysis and critique of Christakis’ and Fowler’s conclusions. The article states: “IT’S TEMPTING TO think, confronted by Christakis and Fowler’s work, that the best way to improve your life is to simply cut your ties to people with bad behavior. And obviously this is possible; people change their friends often, sometimes abruptly. But reshaping your social network may be more challenging than altering your behavior. There’s also compelling evidence in their research that we do not have as much control as we might think we do over the way we’re linked to other people: our location in a social network, say, or how many of our friends know each other.” To read the full article, click here.

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