What is social support?
Quality and kinds of support
Emotional
Informational
Instrumental
Describe key findings regarding social support
Heightens self-esteem, cognitive development
Lowers stress, anxiety
What are social networks?
Diffusion of information, resources, opportunities
Who you know
Advantages to having larger, denser social networks
Describe key findings regarding social networks
Networks enforce discipline over norms
What is social isolation?
Social isolation occurs when one loses their social network and family members
Describe key findings regarding social isolation
- Earlier mortality
- Lack of informational support
- Vulmerability to fraud, poor diet and dehydration
What is social exclusion?
A process of excluding members of a group from normal interactions and sharing of benefits
Describe key findings regarding social exclusion
- Migrants have worse health and life prospects than members of host country
- Higher risk of diabetes
- Leads to difficulty accessing services, employment, and decent housing
Describe arguments around social support
Heightens self-esteem, cognitive development
Lowers stress, anxiety
Describe arguments around social networks
- Richer network leads to better health because of improved access to resources and enhanced control over your life prospects
- Networks discipline members into adhering to health enhancing norms
Describe arguments around social isolation
Older adults are typically vulnerable due to smaller networks from retirement, children leaving the nest etc.
Describe arguments around social exclusion
- Employer prejudice
- Segregation
- Carding
- Loss of life expectancy
Define the Roseto effect
A finding that a high level of social support within a group has protective health effects
Describe explanations of the Roseto effect
Supportive, predictable, social norms can be protective of human health and wellbeing
Culture and values supporting social integration
Define social capital
Collective benefits arising from co-operative attitudes and practices grounded in trust and reciprocity
Describe the debate around social capital
Similar concept, similar problems
What is “capital” anyway?
Governments cutting social programs while supporting volunteerism?
Interest in social capital has waned
Other spinoffs
Jury is out?
Define social cohesion
The extent to which bonds form among members of a group and between groups
Describe the debate around social cohesion
“Participation in community affairs”
Number of community-based organizations
Some limited evidence for social solidarity thesis
Confounding of individual-level resources?
Dovetails with political ideology
Describe some of the ways that having friends and family in our lives affects our health?
- ## Gives us access to opportunities
