Social Isolation Growing in U.S., Study Says - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Janice · 06-23-2006, 01:30 AM

Washington Post

Social Isolation Growing in U.S., Study Says

The Number of People Who Say They Have No One to Confide In Has Risen

Americans are far more socially isolated today than they were two decades ago, and a sharply growing number of people say they have no one in whom they can confide, according to a comprehensive new evaluation of the decline of social ties in the United States.

A quarter of Americans say they have no one with whom they can discuss personal troubles, more than double the number who were similarly isolated in 1985. Overall, the number of people Americans have in their closest circle of confidants has dropped from around three to about two.

The comprehensive new study paints a sobering picture of an increasingly fragmented America, where intimate social ties -- once seen as an integral part of daily life and associated with a host of psychological and civic benefits -- are shrinking or nonexistent. In bad times, far more people appear to suffer alone.

"That image of people on roofs after Katrina resonates with me, because those people did not know someone with a car," said Lynn Smith-Lovin, a Duke University sociologist who helped conduct the study. "There really is less of a safety net of close friends and confidants."

If close social relationships support people in the same way that beams hold up buildings, more and more Americans appear to be dependent on a single beam.

Compared with 1985, nearly 50 percent more people in 2004 reported that their spouse is the only person they can confide in. But if people face trouble in that relationship, or if a spouse falls sick, that means these people have no one to turn to for help, Smith-Lovin said.

"We know these close ties are what people depend on in bad times," she said. "We're not saying people are completely isolated. They may have 600 friends on Facebook.com [a popular networking Web site] and e-mail 25 people a day, but they are not discussing matters that are personally important."

The new research is based on a high-quality random survey of nearly 1,500 Americans. Telephone surveys miss people who are not home, but the General Social Survey, funded by the National Science Foundation, has a high response rate and conducts detailed face-to-face interviews, in which respondents are pressed to confirm they mean what they say.

Whereas nearly three-quarters of people in 1985 reported they had a friend in whom they could confide, only half in 2004 said they could count on such support. The number of people who said they counted a neighbor as a confidant dropped by more than half, from about 19 percent to about 8 percent.

The results, being published today in the American Sociological Review, took researchers by surprise because they had not expected to see such a steep decline in close social ties.

Smith-Lovin said increased professional responsibilities, including working two or more jobs to make ends meet, and long commutes leave many people too exhausted to seek social -- as well as family -- connections: "Maybe sitting around watching 'Desperate Housewives' . . . is what counts for family interaction."

Robert D. Putnam, a professor of public policy at Harvard and the author of "Bowling Alone," a book about increasing social isolation in the United States, said the new study supports what he has been saying for years to skeptical audiences in the academy.

"For most of the 20th century, Americans were becoming more connected with family and friends, and there was more giving of blood and money, and all of those trend lines turn sharply in the middle '60s and have gone in the other direction ever since," he said.

Americans go on 60 percent fewer picnics today and families eat dinner together 40 percent less often compared with 1965, he said. They are less likely to meet at clubs or go bowling in groups. Putnam has estimated that every 10-minute increase in commutes makes it 10 percent less likely that people will establish and maintain close social ties.

Television is a big part of the problem, he contends. Whereas 5 percent of U.S. households in 1950 owned television sets, 95 percent did a decade later.

But University of Toronto sociologist Barry Wellman questioned whether the study's focus on intimate ties means that social ties in general are fraying. He said people's overall ties are actually growing, compared with previous decades, thanks in part to the Internet. Wellman has calculated that the average person today has about 250 ties with friends and relatives.

Wellman praised the quality of the new study and said its results are surprising, but he said it does not address how core ties change in the context of other relationships.

"I don't see this as the end of the world but part of a larger puzzle," he said. "My guess is people only have so much energy, and right now they are switching around a number of networks. . . . We are getting a division of labor in relationships. Some people give emotional aid, some people give financial aid."

Putnam and Smith-Lovin said Americans may be well advised to consciously build more relationships. But they also said social institutions and social-policy makers need to pay more attention.

"The current structure of workplace regulations assumes everyone works from 9 to 5, five days a week," Putnam said. "If we gave people much more flexibility in their work life, they would use that time to spend more time with their aging mom or best friend."

dawsongirl · 06-23-2006, 01:51 AM

That strangely makes me feel better about myself.

80sTrivia · 06-23-2006, 06:04 AM

Very interesting article. It does seem to me that people in general are not as social as they once were...

crystals · 06-23-2006, 09:34 AM

Interesting article. I wonder if it's the same way here in Canada.

I know I don't see my friends much anymore. Most of them are working most of the time nine to five jobs and are busy during the weekends with family. Looks like the world has come to a world of almost all work and no play/recreation time. Kind of sucks.

Mijada · 06-23-2006, 10:25 AM

I believe it. It's very unfortunate but it's true. I remember when I was very young it seemed everyone in my neighborhood knew everyone else. Everyone used to get together and have barbecues and picnics, attend each others kids school and sporting events and in the winter we'd all go sledding or snowmobiling. The neighborhood moms were all friends and would do things together, talk about their problems and arrange playtimes with the kids. It's not like that today though. Very few people even bother to get to know their neighbors anymore. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that so many more people are working these days and just don't have time to socialize much. Also I think people just don't trust other people as much anymore. We keep hearing about all these online preditors and child molesters out there it doesn't exactly make you want to run out and get to know your new neighbors or coworkers especially when you have young kids at home.

Steve M. · 06-25-2006, 08:38 PM

It's sad, but it's a painful reality. Television, suburbia, and corporate regimentation have turned the nation into a lonely hearts club. Of course, socially isolated people are easier for the government to control. . . .

Janice · 06-26-2006, 02:08 PM

I think the internet contributes to social isolation. For many people, they become so engrossed with their online friendships, that they neglect people they know in person. I caught myself falling into that trap a couple of years ago, but stopped.

Brent88 · 06-27-2006, 01:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janice

I think the internet contributes to social isolation. For many people, they become so engrossed with their online friendships, that they neglect people they know in person. I caught myself falling into that trap a couple of years ago, but stopped.

Exactly. I have tons of internet friends, I chat with some every night and we talk about pretty much anything. I've told them things my parents don't even know. I have no friends I see day-to-day though, and I'm happy about that.

Steve M. · 06-27-2006, 09:39 AM

I've had Internet friends I wish I could meet in person, because I figure I could enjoy their friendship just as much off the Net as on it. But geography always makes that impossible, alas. Besides, Internet friends seem to drift away as quickly and as easily as friends you see in person.

crystals · 06-27-2006, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brent88

Exactly. I have tons of internet friends, I chat with some every night and we talk about pretty much anything. I've told them things my parents don't even know.

It's the same with me. I don't see my friends on a daily basis. Just send emails to people I went to high school with and I talk online here and on another site.
Also the same with me with the stuff I haven't told my parents. I tell people online stuff that I could never tell my parents. It's sad, but I think people online know me better than people who know me offline.

Nighthawk76 · 06-27-2006, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janice

I think the internet contributes to social isolation. For many people, they become so engrossed with their online friendships, that they neglect people they know in person. I caught myself falling into that trap a couple of years ago, but stopped.

I think this is very true. That is why I always try to put a limit on the amount of time that I spend online.

Nighthawk76 · 06-27-2006, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crystals

It's the same with me. I don't see my friends on a daily basis. Just send emails to people I went to high school with and I talk online here and on another site.
Also the same with me with the stuff I haven't told my parents. I tell people online stuff that I could never tell my parents. It's sad, but I think people online know me better than people who know me offline.

I think it is just easier to tell people things online because you don't have to look them in the face. That is my take on it anyway.

D-Dey · 06-27-2006, 09:05 PM

Hmm. Social isolation, or sacrificing my opinions, beliefs, and desires and putting on a false front in the hope of being accepted by others.

As much as it may make me miss out on friends, love, and life, I think I'll stay true to myself and settle for social isolation.

Steve M. · 06-28-2006, 11:32 AM

Or, as Neil Peart once said through Geddy Lee, conform or be cast out!

Janice · 06-28-2006, 01:03 PM

The article makes no mention of conforming or not conforming as a contributing factor to social isolation.

06-23-2006, 01:30 AM	#1
Janice Retired Admin - Hollywood Swingin' Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 03, 2001 Location: Beantown Posts: 36,388	Social Isolation Growing in U.S., Study Says Washington Post Social Isolation Growing in U.S., Study Says The Number of People Who Say They Have No One to Confide In Has Risen Americans are far more socially isolated today than they were two decades ago, and a sharply growing number of people say they have no one in whom they can confide, according to a comprehensive new evaluation of the decline of social ties in the United States. A quarter of Americans say they have no one with whom they can discuss personal troubles, more than double the number who were similarly isolated in 1985. Overall, the number of people Americans have in their closest circle of confidants has dropped from around three to about two. The comprehensive new study paints a sobering picture of an increasingly fragmented America, where intimate social ties -- once seen as an integral part of daily life and associated with a host of psychological and civic benefits -- are shrinking or nonexistent. In bad times, far more people appear to suffer alone. "That image of people on roofs after Katrina resonates with me, because those people did not know someone with a car," said Lynn Smith-Lovin, a Duke University sociologist who helped conduct the study. "There really is less of a safety net of close friends and confidants." If close social relationships support people in the same way that beams hold up buildings, more and more Americans appear to be dependent on a single beam. Compared with 1985, nearly 50 percent more people in 2004 reported that their spouse is the only person they can confide in. But if people face trouble in that relationship, or if a spouse falls sick, that means these people have no one to turn to for help, Smith-Lovin said. "We know these close ties are what people depend on in bad times," she said. "We're not saying people are completely isolated. They may have 600 friends on Facebook.com [a popular networking Web site] and e-mail 25 people a day, but they are not discussing matters that are personally important." The new research is based on a high-quality random survey of nearly 1,500 Americans. Telephone surveys miss people who are not home, but the General Social Survey, funded by the National Science Foundation, has a high response rate and conducts detailed face-to-face interviews, in which respondents are pressed to confirm they mean what they say. Whereas nearly three-quarters of people in 1985 reported they had a friend in whom they could confide, only half in 2004 said they could count on such support. The number of people who said they counted a neighbor as a confidant dropped by more than half, from about 19 percent to about 8 percent. The results, being published today in the American Sociological Review, took researchers by surprise because they had not expected to see such a steep decline in close social ties. Smith-Lovin said increased professional responsibilities, including working two or more jobs to make ends meet, and long commutes leave many people too exhausted to seek social -- as well as family -- connections: "Maybe sitting around watching 'Desperate Housewives' . . . is what counts for family interaction." Robert D. Putnam, a professor of public policy at Harvard and the author of "Bowling Alone," a book about increasing social isolation in the United States, said the new study supports what he has been saying for years to skeptical audiences in the academy. "For most of the 20th century, Americans were becoming more connected with family and friends, and there was more giving of blood and money, and all of those trend lines turn sharply in the middle '60s and have gone in the other direction ever since," he said. Americans go on 60 percent fewer picnics today and families eat dinner together 40 percent less often compared with 1965, he said. They are less likely to meet at clubs or go bowling in groups. Putnam has estimated that every 10-minute increase in commutes makes it 10 percent less likely that people will establish and maintain close social ties. Television is a big part of the problem, he contends. Whereas 5 percent of U.S. households in 1950 owned television sets, 95 percent did a decade later. But University of Toronto sociologist Barry Wellman questioned whether the study's focus on intimate ties means that social ties in general are fraying. He said people's overall ties are actually growing, compared with previous decades, thanks in part to the Internet. Wellman has calculated that the average person today has about 250 ties with friends and relatives. Wellman praised the quality of the new study and said its results are surprising, but he said it does not address how core ties change in the context of other relationships. "I don't see this as the end of the world but part of a larger puzzle," he said. "My guess is people only have so much energy, and right now they are switching around a number of networks. . . . We are getting a division of labor in relationships. Some people give emotional aid, some people give financial aid." Putnam and Smith-Lovin said Americans may be well advised to consciously build more relationships. But they also said social institutions and social-policy makers need to pay more attention. "The current structure of workplace regulations assumes everyone works from 9 to 5, five days a week," Putnam said. "If we gave people much more flexibility in their work life, they would use that time to spend more time with their aging mom or best friend."

06-23-2006, 06:04 AM	#3
80sTrivia Member Forum Celebrity Join Date: May 23, 2002 Posts: 21,714	Very interesting article. It does seem to me that people in general are not as social as they once were...
	__________________ Perfect Gift Books for Pop Culture Fanatics: Thank You for Being a Friend: A Golden Girls Trivia Book The Bouquet Residence: A Keeping Up Appearances Trivia Book Cooking With the Golden Girls: Fun & Delicious Recipes from a Hilarious Miami Kitchen Love in the Afternoon: The Ultimate Soap Opera Trivia Book The Last Great Decade: The Ultimate 90s Trivia Book Betty White: A Celebration

06-23-2006, 09:34 AM	#4
crystals Member Senior Member Join Date: Feb 02, 2004 Location: Canada Posts: 1,829	Interesting article. I wonder if it's the same way here in Canada. I know I don't see my friends much anymore. Most of them are working most of the time nine to five jobs and are busy during the weekends with family. Looks like the world has come to a world of almost all work and no play/recreation time. Kind of sucks.
	__________________ The man who lends a helping hand is the true hero.

06-23-2006, 10:25 AM	#5
Mijada Spencers mom Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Dec 02, 2001 Location: eastern US Posts: 4,093	I believe it. It's very unfortunate but it's true. I remember when I was very young it seemed everyone in my neighborhood knew everyone else. Everyone used to get together and have barbecues and picnics, attend each others kids school and sporting events and in the winter we'd all go sledding or snowmobiling. The neighborhood moms were all friends and would do things together, talk about their problems and arrange playtimes with the kids. It's not like that today though. Very few people even bother to get to know their neighbors anymore. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that so many more people are working these days and just don't have time to socialize much. Also I think people just don't trust other people as much anymore. We keep hearing about all these online preditors and child molesters out there it doesn't exactly make you want to run out and get to know your new neighbors or coworkers especially when you have young kids at home.
	__________________ Proud mom to Spencer, Justine and Colleen

06-27-2006, 09:05 PM	#13
D-Dey Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Feb 11, 2000 Location: Long Island, New York, USA Posts: 5,531	Hmm. Social isolation, or sacrificing my opinions, beliefs, and desires and putting on a false front in the hope of being accepted by others. As much as it may make me miss out on friends, love, and life, I think I'll stay true to myself and settle for social isolation.
	__________________ Funny song parodies here: http://www.amiright.com/parody/60s/thebeatles11.shtml http://www.amiright.com/parody/2000s...nstoner0.shtml http://www.amiright.com/parody/2000s/weezer56.shtml http://www.amiright.com/parody/2000s/thedonnas4.shtml Petition the United States Postal Service for a stamp honoring Minoru Yamasaki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minoru_Yamasaki http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/lea...-committee.htm

06-23-2006, 01:51 AM	#2
dawsongirl Member Forum Icon Join Date: Jan 04, 2001 Posts: 53,140	That strangely makes me feel better about myself.

06-25-2006, 08:38 PM	#6
Steve M. Back on the road to reality Forum Superstar Join Date: Nov 07, 2003 Location: New Jersey Posts: 33,307	It's sad, but it's a painful reality. Television, suburbia, and corporate regimentation have turned the nation into a lonely hearts club. Of course, socially isolated people are easier for the government to control. . . .

06-26-2006, 02:08 PM	#7
Janice Retired Admin - Hollywood Swingin' Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 03, 2001 Location: Beantown Posts: 36,388	I think the internet contributes to social isolation. For many people, they become so engrossed with their online friendships, that they neglect people they know in person. I caught myself falling into that trap a couple of years ago, but stopped.

06-27-2006, 09:39 AM	#9
Steve M. Back on the road to reality Forum Superstar Join Date: Nov 07, 2003 Location: New Jersey Posts: 33,307	I've had Internet friends I wish I could meet in person, because I figure I could enjoy their friendship just as much off the Net as on it. But geography always makes that impossible, alas. Besides, Internet friends seem to drift away as quickly and as easily as friends you see in person.

06-28-2006, 11:32 AM	#14
Steve M. Back on the road to reality Forum Superstar Join Date: Nov 07, 2003 Location: New Jersey Posts: 33,307	Or, as Neil Peart once said through Geddy Lee, conform or be cast out!

06-28-2006, 01:03 PM	#15
Janice Retired Admin - Hollywood Swingin' Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 03, 2001 Location: Beantown Posts: 36,388	The article makes no mention of conforming or not conforming as a contributing factor to social isolation.