How my friends impact me?

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Recently in the psychological field a lot has been said about social networks and the contagious effect of phenomena such as obesity, smoking habits, kindness and emotions like happiness.

The popularity of this topic has its roots in the work of Profs. Christakis and Fowler, the authors of the book 'Connected: The surprising power of our social networks', who analyzed the overwhelming amount of data collected during the Framingham Heart Studies. The obtained results were impressive, as they showed that people are influenced not only by their friends, but also by friends of their friends and even the friends of friends of their friends. This means that behaviors and other phenomena can spread through the network as far as three degrees of separation. In general, they displayed that when a friend of mine is putting on weight, I am more likely to do the same. On the other hand, good things such as happiness also spread within the network, so if you have thought that the best idea not to be contaminated is to separate yourself from your friends, it is not.

But, how is this happening? Is there some kind of a friend-dependent virus affecting us?

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Not really, the way in which we are influencing each other, is by contact, time spent together, imitation of our behaviors (healthy or detrimental habits) and emotional contagion, to name some. We are social animals, we do not live in isolation, therefore we catch others' emotions, preferences and behaviors. In accordance with this idea, another group of researchers (Carrell, Hoekstra & West, 2011) showed that students' individual fitness scores depend greatly on the standing of their team. Unfortunately, the biggest impact was observed to be made by the least fit peers, not the most fit ones. Also, the poorer fitness condition affected those students, who were struggling with their own poor physical fitness.

So, what can we do about it? Are we just the observers of contagious effects occurring around us? Fortunately, no! Changing one's behaviors and behaviors of his/her social network may be easier if you or your friend can bring better habits and activities that promote health, well-being and optimal functioning to your social circle. There is true wisdom in Mahatma Gandhi saying that: 'You should be the change you want to see in the world'. This way you are helping yourself, but also your friends, their friends and even friends of friends of friends. Living in a network can compel us to make unhealthy choices, but the same way it can help us improve our lives and the lives of others. 

The latter can be pictured by the TV series 'The biggest loser', where obese people fight together and motivate each other to become healthier and pursue a better life. Finally, in their newest article researchers from The Miriam Hospital's Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center and The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University have found that weight loss is also contagious, resulting in outcomes depending on which team a person is in. They also observed that being a team leader provided additional lost kilograms, thanks to a greater motivation and engagement.

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Like Prof. Leahey said, "we're all influenced by the people around us, so if we can harness this positive peer pressure and these positive social influences, we can create a social environment to help encourage additional weight loss"

... and other healthy behaviors :)

So, how do you see the impact your friends have on you,
or you on them? Feel free to share!