Published on
Updated
Reading 2 min.
Friends, buddies, colleagues, whatever their exact nature, social interactions would be beneficial for mental health. This is what a new study conducted by American researchers reveals, who specify however that virtual social interactions do not have the same impact as physical exchanges.
“Work is health,” Henri Salvador once sang. But friendship, family, in other words, loved ones, are not left out when it comes to improving the mental health of populations. While a survey recently showed that loneliness weighed on the mental health of the French, a new study conducted by researchers at Stanford University in the United States shows that social interactions are an important vector of well-being.
To achieve these results, the researchers followed three cohorts of students for three years, analyzing data on their social interactions and well-being. They went further by examining the additional role of four different contextual factors, including the partners with whom the students interacted and the communication channels used.
Feel good in your body, feel good in your head!
Social bonds, a vector of well-being
Published in the newspaper Social Psychological and Personality Sciencetheir work suggests that interacting with peers, and therefore forming social bonds, can significantly improve well-being.Our research indicates that meaningful social interactions have clear positive effects on emotional well-being, stress and loneliness. Spending more time having meaningful and deep conversations with anyone with strong or weak ties has beneficial effects on average levels of well-being for the person concerned“, underlines Mahnaz Roshanaei, a researcher at Stanford University, in a press release.
Another observation, but not least, is that the context in which these social interactions take place is particularly important. Scientists have observed better results in terms of well-being when interactions take place in person, compared to virtual exchanges (instant messaging or texting, for example). And if there is a time to favor to interact with others, it is better that it happens during periods of rest rather than activities.
“In the future, the results of this study can be used to design personalized intervention strategies aimed at encouraging healthy social life.“, concludes Mahnaz Roshanaei. And this despite the researcher recognizing the need to deepen this research, particularly through more diverse groups of participants.
Slideshow: 30 quotes about friendship