Americans Living Lonelier, More Isolated Lives?

The article ‘Social Isolation in America: Changes in Core Discussion Networks over Two Decades’, published today in the American Sociological Review (and available online), compares the results of a major social network survey conducted in 1985 with the results of the same survey conducted in 2004. The results show a startling and dramatic drop in the size of close social networks:

The number of discussion partners in the typical American’s interpersonal environment has decreased by nearly one person (from a mean of 2.94 to a mean of 2.08). The modal number of discussion partners has gone from three to zero, with almost half of the population (43.6 percent) now reporting that they discuss important matters with either no one or with only one other person. The decrease is especially marked among those who report four or five discussion partners: these respondents have gone from a third of the population (33.0 percent) to only 15.3 percent of the population.

The non-kin component of social networks has dropped more markedly than the family component, and more people in 2004 report discussing important mattes with a spouse (38.1 percent) than in 1985 (30.1 percent):

Both kin and non-kin ties have decreased, although the change is larger in non-family ties. In the past two decades, discussion networks have focused on the very close family ties of spouse/partner and parent, while the potentially integrative ties of voluntary group membership and neighbor have decreased dramatically.

The researchers summarize the overall picture of their data:

The general image is one of an already densely connected, close, homogeneous set of ties slowly closing in on itself, becoming smaller, more tightly interconnected, more focused on teh very strong bonds of the nuclear family (spouses, partners and parents).

And they summarize an interesting relationship regarding educational levels and social networks:

The education level at which one is more connected through core discussion ties to the larger community than to family members has shifted up into the graduate degrees, a level of educational attained by only a tiny minority of the population. High school graduates and those with some college are now in a very family-dominated social environment of core confidants.

Overall, the researchers are rightfully cautious about apparently discovering such a dramatic shift in social networks in such a short period of time, and they report several possible confounds and limitations, including ways in which people’s understanding of the survey questions themselves may have changed over time. But on the other hand, they also point to several sources of apparently converging data suggesting similar conclusions about trends in American social networks.

In their closing comments, the authors explore several ideas and several other studies which might help explain the findings, touching on internet usage and mobile phone usage patterns, the differences between weak ties and strong ties, the proportion of women entering the workforce, the impact of changing work patterns and the ‘time bind effect’, and a great deal more. The article is at once startling, disturbing, and thought-provoking — and highly recommended!

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