6/4/2017 Popular People Live Longer - The New York Times

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SundayReview | OPI NI ON

PopularPeopleLiveLonger
ByMITCHPRINSTEIN JUNE1,2017

Ioftenhearfromteenagersthatoneoftheirgreatestgoalsistoobtainmore
Instagramfollowersthananyonetheyknow.Evensomeadultsappearobsessedwith
socialmedia,trackingthenumberofretweetsontheirTwitterprofilesorlikeson
Facebook.Thistypeofstatusseekingmightbeeasilydismissedasjuvenileor
superficial,buttheresmoretoit.

Recentevidencesuggeststhatbeingunpopularcanbehazardoustoourhealth.
Infact,itmightevenkillus.Yetmostdontrealizethattheresmorethanonetypeof
popularity,andsocialmediamaynotsupplytheonethatmakesusfeelgood.

JulianneHoltLunstad,apsychologistatBrighamYoungUniversity,
consolidateddatafrom148investigationspublishedover28yearsontheeffectsof
socialrelationships,collectivelyincludingover308,000participantsbetweenthe
agesof6and92fromallovertheworld.Ineachstudy,investigatorsmeasuredthe
sizeofparticipantsnetworks,thenumberoftheirfriends,whethertheylivedalone,
andtheextenttowhichtheyparticipatedinsocialactivities.Thentheyfollowedeach
participantformonths,yearsandevendecadestotrackhisorhermortalityrate.

Theresultsrevealedthatbeingunpopularfeelingisolated,disconnected,
lonelypredictsourlifespan.Moresurprisingisjusthowpowerfulthiseffectcan
be.Dr.HoltLunstadfoundthatpeoplewhohadlargernetworksoffriendshada50

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6/4/2017 Popular People Live Longer - The New York Times

percentincreasedchanceofsurvivalbytheendofthestudytheywerein.Andthose
whohadgoodqualityrelationshipshada91percenthighersurvivalrate.This
suggeststhatbeingunpopularincreasesourchanceofdeathmorestronglythan
obesity,physicalinactivityorbingedrinking.Infact,theonlycomparablehealth
hazardissmoking.

Thehumanbodyssensitivitytopopularitymayreflecttheeffectsofnatural
selectionoverthousandsofyears.Anthropologistsbelievethatitwashumansability
toformandcomprehendmorecomplexvocalsoundstherudimentsoflanguage,
andthefoundationofouridentityasasocialspeciesthatenabledustosurvive,
ultimatelyoutlastingourhominidneighborsliketheNeanderthals,Denisovansand
Homofloresiensis.Associalbeings,weprotectedoneanother,sharedresourcesand
collaboratedtogainadvantagesoverotherspecies.

Thismaybewhyweremainsoattunedtopopularitytoday,evenwhenwerenot
consciouslythinkingofit.Researchinpsychologyandneurosciencehasbegunto
revealanumberofautomaticphysiologicalresponsestounpopularity.Forinstance,
ourpopularitymayhaveaneffectonourDNA.

GeorgeSlavichandSteveCole,expertsinthefieldofhumansocialgenomicsat
theUniversityofCalifornia,LosAngeles,havedescribedourgenomicmaterialas
beingexquisitelysensitivetosocialrejection.Theystudywhathappens
immediatelyafterwevebeenleftbyaromanticpartner,excludedfromasocial
event,rejectedbyastrangerorevensimplytoldthatwemaybejudgedbyotherswe
careabout.Within40minutes,theyandotherresearchershavefound,these
experiencesaffecttheexpressionofindividualgenes,determiningwhichpartsofour
DNAareturnedonoroff(calledepigenetics).Evenimaginingthatwemightloseour
connectiontotheherd,theyhavefound,canchangehowDNAbehaves.

Thisprocessmayaffectonlyafewdozenoutofatleast20,000genes,buteven
thatsmallnumberseemssignificant.AccordingtoProfessorsSlavichandCole,those
affectedgenesplayanimportantroleinourimmunesystems.Somearelinkedtothe
bodysinflammationresponse,whichiscriticalforhealingwoundsorfighting
bacterialinfections.Theprofessorssuggestthatthiscellularlevelresponseto
rejectionmaybenaturesmechanismtohelpthosewhowereunpopular.

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6/4/2017 Popular People Live Longer - The New York Times

Millenniumsago,individualswhohadnopeerstoprotectthemwerevulnerableto
injuryorattack.Thosewhosebodiespreemptivelyactivatedaproinflammatory
responsethatpreparedthemtohealfromanyimpendingwoundswerethemost
likelytosurvive.

Othergenesimplicatedinreactionstorejectionarerelatedtoviralprotection.
ProfessorsSlavichandColesuggestthatancestralhumanswhohadnopeersto
defendthemnolongerhadagreatneedtobeprotectedfromviruseswhowould
infectthem?sotheirbodiesconservedenergybyreducingtheirvigilanceto
infection.

BeingunfriendedonFacebookdoesntmakeyoumorevulnerabletoattackby
sabertoothedtiger,butourbodiesmaystillberespondingastheydid60,000years
ago.Todayhumanssufferfromawiderangeofdiseasesrelatedtochronic
inflammation,likecancer,asthmaandAlzheimers.Werealsoverylikelytocatch
thecommoncold.

Thatsmostlikelywhyourconcernforsocialstandingbeginssoearlyand
persiststhroughoutourlives.Dozensofstudiesrevealthatchildrenspopularitycan
bemeasuredreliablybyage3,anditremainsremarkablystablenotjustthroughthe
nextdozenyearsofprimaryandsecondaryeducationbutalsoacrosscontexts,as
theymovefromcommunitytocommunityandintoadulthood.

Yetthissameresearchrevealsthatthereismorethanonetypeofpopularity,
andmostofusmaybeinvestinginthewrongkind.Likabilityreflectskindness,
benevolentleadershipandselfless,prosocialbehavior.Researchsuggeststhatthis
formofpopularityofferslifelongadvantages,andleadstorelationshipsthatconfer
thegreatesthealthbenefits.

Likabilityismarkedlydifferentfromstatusanultimatelylesssatisfyingform
ofpopularitythatreflectsvisibility,influence,powerandprestige.Statuscanbe
quantifiedbysocialmediafollowerslikabilitycannot.

Anyonewhohasbeentohighschoolwillrecognizethedistinctionandrecall
thatthosehighinonecategoryareoftenlowintheother.Researchsuggeststhat
despitethegreattemptationstogainstatus,thosewhoachieveitultimately

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6/4/2017 Popular People Live Longer - The New York Times

experiencegreaterunhappinessanddissatisfaction,whilethosewhoarelikablehave
fargreatersatisfactionandsuccess.

Wemaybebuiltbyevolutiontocaredeeplyaboutpopularity,butitsuptousto
choosethenatureoftherelationshipswewantwithourpeers.

WhichmeansthatitwouldntkillyoutostepawayfromTwitteronceinawhile.

MitchPrinstein(@mitchprinstein),aprofessorofpsychologyandneuroscienceatthe
UniversityofNorthCarolinaatChapelHill,istheauthoroftheforthcomingPopular:
ThePowerofLikabilityinaStatusObsessedWorld,fromwhichthisessaywas
adapted.

FollowTheNewYorkTimesOpinionsectiononFacebookandTwitter(@NYTopinion),
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AversionofthisopedappearsinprintonJune4,2017,onPageSR10oftheNewYorkeditionwiththe
headline:PopularPeopleLiveLonger.

2017TheNewYorkTimesCompany

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