We, as humans, are social creatures that thrive on connecting with others. This social connection influences our physical and mental health and our overall well-being.
This notion of social connectedness is a need that needs to be fulfilled and can be done for anyone. Please keep reading to learn the definition of social connectedness, why it’s essential, and how to implement it.
Social Connectedness Defined
Social connectedness is defined as a state of feeling connected to another person or group of people. This could be a feeling of being cared for by someone or caring for someone or a sense of belonging to a group or community. Social connectedness comes by pursuing your social needs and having the opportunity to meet those needs through a regular social network.
There are two main ways social connectedness affects your health and overall well-being.
First, it directly impacts your physical health because regularly spending time with loved ones and friends reduces stress and improves your immune system.
Second, social connectedness affects you because it provides emotional support and meaningful interactions. This gives you a sense of belonging and that you are valued, which helps meet our core human need for connection.
What Are Social Connections
Social connections are relationships with the people around you professionally and personally. These could be close, like family, close friends, romantic partners, or people you only know casually. Social connections don’t always mean being super tight but instead, focus more on the fact that you are there for each other.
Social connections are relationships where you feel valued and supported regardless of how long you talk. We encourage you to seek quality social connections instead of quantity or number of social connections. It’s better to have a smaller circle of people there for you day and night versus a big circle of people who never even answer your text!
Why It’s Important
Having a strong sense of social connectedness is very important in life. Building strong and positive social connections significantly help you face life challenges and can increase your feelings of meaning and purpose.
When supportive, positive social connections surround you, you are more connected as a human and friend. Because you are constantly supported and encouraged, you know you can also be depended on to help others. Social connections are not a one-way street, and it’s important to remember that giving support is just as important as receiving support.
How To Implement Social Connectedness In Your Life:
Making and pursuing social connections can be easier for some than others. We encourage you to take your time and find what works for you. A few ideas are below on building positive social connections to implement in your life.
First, take the initiative and invite friends to a movie or plan dinner. So often, we never hang out with our friends because no one takes the time to organize or plan! Also, If you have a friend going through a hard time, send them an encouraging message or see if you can help.
If you want to create social connections, we will encourage you to look for groups in hobbies or passions that you already have. This could be attending weekly yoga classes or even a painting or art class. Also, consider volunteering as a way to meet people while you help a good cause.
Lastly, if you are more introverted or have a tough schedule, you could always try to connect with people online. Find online forums about your interests or even local groups in your community.
Conclusion
We found that people value social connectedness because it brings them stability, security, and the ability to feel part of a group. We encourage you to get out there today and use tips from this article to increase your social connectedness!