Challenge Brief: Reimagining Human Connection
In 2023, WHO declared loneliness a global public health concern. Across 142 countries, 1 in 4 adults reported feeling lonely, while more than half of children and adolescents reported feeling lonely at least some of the time.
Social vulnerability and isolation has a significant impact on health, leading patients to increased inflammation, cardiovascular disease, and cognitive impairments, among other conditions, according to research led by Axel Seemann.
**Juliana Schroeder,** Berkeley Haas professor leading studies about social cognition and interpersonal processes, recently published a paper “Feeling Known Predicts Relationship Satisfaction.” In the paper, Professor Schroeder presented evidence to show that people—in all manner of interpersonal relationships—feel more satisfied when they felt like they were known, rather than when they felt like they knew the other person.
**Christina Maslach,** emerita professor at Berkeley in the Department of Psychology, pointed out that six mismatches cause many white- and blue-collar to feel stressed out, insecure, misunderstood, undervalued, and alienated at their workplace: Work Overload, Lost of Control, Insufficient Reward, Breakdown of Community, Absence of Fairness, and Conflicting Values. Watch Professor Maslach’s speech in this topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVlL9TnvphA
In response to the urgency of the loneliness epidemic, many different players trying to address this challenge from a variety of perspectives:
Former Tinder CEO Renate Nyborg launched a new startup, Meeno, which aims to fight loneliness through an AI-powered chatbot. The AI is framed as a “personal mentor” that can offer tailored social and emotional advice and help build skills for forging real-world human connection.
Companies are designing robots that create the impression of companionship. New York officials bought hundreds of ElliQ robots, a robot meant to build relationships with humans and project empathy, to support seniors struggling with loneliness.
Meet the new robot companions helping to fight depression and loneliness in aging adults
Lonely Philadelphians leveraged the power of community post-pandemic to find new ways to connect. Take a look at Philly’s Pitch-a-Friend, a fun way to circumvent the awkwardness of dating and get more people talking to each other
The Other Significant Others by Rhaina Cohen discusses how we might rethink our existing friendships for more fulfilling and anchored lives. Take a look at this interview with Anne Helen Petersen and Rhaina Cohen about her findings:
Reimagining Life with Friendship at the Center
Also read this article about how living close to friends can make us happier:
Snapchat’s latest campaign pitches the company as the anti-social media, focused on building community and connection in a safe platform, compared to big tech giants that have been facing scrutiny for their impact on teen mental health.
Why Snapchat is pitching its platform as an alternative to social media