Social Connection & Compassions Impact on Health & Organizations

Emma Seppala, Ph.D. Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education STANFORD UNIVERSITY

Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybodyI think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat. ~ Mother Theresa

The longing for interpersonal intimacy stays with every human being from infancy throughout life; and there is no human being who is not threatened by its loss...the human being is born with the need for contact and tenderness ~Fromm-Reichmann, 1959

Social connection

Social Connection
A fundamental human motivation (Baumeister & Leary, 1995) Developmental Psychology attachment (secure, insecure, anxious)

Clinical/Sociological: emotional support, social support, loneliness

Social: belonging, social connectedness Personality Psychology Maslow (1943)s Hierarchy of Needs

Harlow, 1958

Low Social Connection

Infancy: developmental deficits & death Adolescence/Adulthood: psychological distress negative emotionality, pessimism, anxiety, depression, low trust, low self-esteem, violence, Suicide predictive of psychological relapse in case of psychopathology

Extoversion

Well-Being

Neuroticism

Psychological Distress

Extoversion
Social Connection

Well-Being

Neuroticism

Psychological Distress

HIGH

Extoversion
Social Connection

Well-Being

Neuroticism

LOW

Psychological Distress

Lee, Dean & Jung, 2008

Low Social Connection

As unhealthy as obesity, high blood pressure, or smoking (House et al., 1988) Increased Risk of Sleep disturbance (Cacioppo et al., 2002; Hawkley, Masi, Berry, & Cacioppo, 2006) Elevated blood pressure increased risk of mortality (Cacioppo et al., 2002) Weakening of the immune system, chronically elevated cortisol, chronically elevated activation of the HPA Axis (Cacioppo & Hawkley, 2003; De Vries, Glasper & Detillion, 2003; (Hawkley &
Cacioppo, 2007; Pressman et al., 2005)

Accelerated physiological decline with aging (Hawkley & Cacioppo, 2007) Alzheimers and dementia (Fratiglioni, 2000) Inflammation at the cellular level (Cole et al., 2007) Earlier mortality (Berkman & Syme, 1979, Berkman, 1997)

Social exclusion - one of the main sources of anxiety for the general public, after fear of physical harm & leads to significant emotional distress (Baumeister, Twenge & Nuss, 2002; Baumeister &
Tice, 1990; Cacioppo, Hughes, Waite, Hawkley & Thisted, 2006; Twenge, Baumeister, DeWall, Ciarocco, & Bartels, 2007)

Loneliness hurts: Social Rejection & physical Pain share same brain regions (Kross et al., 2010)

High Social Connection

Subjective well-being & happiness (Dean & Lee & Jung, 2008; Kimweli & Stilwell, 2002; Lee & Robbins,
1998; Diener & Seligman, 2004; Myers, 2000; Putnam, 2001); Baumeister & Leary, 1995; Tanaka et al., 2007)

High self-esteem, social self-confidence, and resiliency across a broad array of stressful life events and environments (Lee, Draber & Sujin, 2001; Lee, & Robbins, 1998; Taylor, 2007, for a review) Higher optimism and trust (Lee, Draber & Sujin, 2001; Lee, & Robbins, 1998; Ptacek & Gross, 1997) Prosociality (Twenge et al. 2007; Kunce & Shaver, 2004; Thoits & Hewitt, 2001; Westmaas & Silver, 2001;
Wilson & Musick, 1999, for a review)

50% increased chance of longevity (Holt-Lunstad et al., 2010) Strengthened immunity, faster recovery from disease (Pressman et al., 2005) Resilience against life stresses (Cobb ,1976) Oxytocin and opioids, released in affiliative contexts, may serve as a protective factor, decreasing the stress-induced cortisol levels, and increasing survival and health (Detillion,
Craft, Glasper, Predergast, & DeVries, 2004; Knox & Uvnas-Moberg, 1998; Taylor & Gonzaga, 2007)

Giving benefits health outcomes and longevity more than receiving (Brown et al., 2003) Volunteers live longer than nonvolunteers, but only if they volunteer for selfless reasons
(Konrath & Fuhrel-Forbis, 2011)

Social Connection
Social networks & number of close others decreasing. (McPherson et al., 2006) e.g. modal number of close others Benefits linked to subjective sense of social connection.

Determinants of benefits of social connection? Affection Subjective perception

Loving-Kindness Meditation (LKM)

Study Outline
TIME 1 Manipulation
TIME 2

And/or OR

6 minutes

N=93, 57% female

Hutcherson, Seppala & Gross, 2008

Targeted LKM

Control (Neutral) Manipulation

Mood

How [X] do you feel right now?

Angry Calm Anxious Happy Unhappy Loving

Explicit Social Connectedness

Target

How [connected/similar/positive] do you feel to the person in the photograph?

Non-Target

Implicit Social Connectedness

Implicit Social Connectedness

Implicit Social Connectedness

Implicit Social Connectedness

NICE

Implicit Social Connectedness

Implicit Social Connectedness

Implicit Social Connectedness

Implicit Social Connectedness

ANGRY

Implicit Social Connectedness

1.6
1.4

Change in Explicit Connectedness

**

Change on 7-point Scale

1.2 1.0 .8 .6 .4 .2 .0 -.2

**

=NEU = LKM Non-target Average Target of LKM or NEU

Hutcherson, Seppala & Gross, 2008

** p<.005

Change in Implicit Connectedness

100
80

Negative Positive Reaction Time in Milliseconds

60 40 20

-20 -40 -60

=NEU = LKM

Hutcherson, Seppala & Gross, 2008

non-

target

tar-

get

* p<.05

Change in Mood
**
.8

Change on 7-point Scale

.6 .4 .2 .0

-.2
-.4 -.6

Negative

Mood

Positive

Mood

=NEU = LKM

Hutcherson, Seppala & Gross, 2008

** p<.005

Change in Mood Mediates Explicit but not Implicit Social Connection

7 400.00

Change in explicit positivity to target

6
5 4 3 2 1 0 -4.00 -2.00 -1 -2 -3 Change in Positive Mood 0.00 2.00 4.00

Change in implicit positivity to target

300.00 200.00 100.00 0.00 -4.00 -2.00 -100.00 -200.00 -300.00 Change in Positive Mood 0.00 2.00 4.00

r = .39, p < .001 Sobel z-test: z = 2.19 p<.03

r = .18, p = n.s. Sobel z-test: z = 1.24 p<.22

=NEU = LKM

Stress/Trauma

Wired for Compassion

The urge to help others is innate (e.g. Tomasello) We are quicker to cooperate than to compete both as children and adults (Rand,
Greene & Nowak, 2012)

Compassion ensured our survival (and even influences dating preferences!)

(Sapolsky, 2004; Buss, 1986)

Compassion makes us happy (Harbaugh, 2009, Moll et al, 2006, Dunn et al, 2008)

Organizations

Social Connection & Compassion At Work

Low Social Connection/Compassion Lower engagement, loyalty Higher Turnover Higher Stress & Anxiety Compromised Health Higher Costs Compromised culture & climate (impacts: motivation, commitment, turnover, leadership, demography, cooperativeness & performance) High Social Connection/Compassion improves Workplace culture Workplace engagement, loyalty, and commitment Customer service Psychological health and well-being Health outcomes (e.g. heart rate, blood pressure, immune function) Helpfulness with Peers

Values & Service

We are fundamentally driven by values: A lack of sense of contribution to society increases psychological distress A lack a sense of bonding with the workplace increases psychological distress 50% of people want to work for a company that has a volunteering program Employees that share the same values as their company have - Higher levels of organizational commitment - Perform better - Feel more motivated It makes us happier to give to others than to spend on ourselves Giving boosts health, happiness & longevity more than receiving Compassionate behavior is like psychological chocolate for the brain Volunteers live longer than non-volunteers (if done for selfless reasons)

Compassion Spreads
Kindness elevates us. It inspires and moves (Haidt, 2000) Elevation begets more kindness (Schnall et al., 2010) Kindness spreads up to 3 degrees of separation away (Fowler & Christakis, 2010)
Compassionate leadership fosters employee prosocial behavior and commitment
-

When a manager is more prosocial, it rubs off on employees and leads to less voluntary turnover Self-sacrificing and fair leaders evoke elevation in their employees which in turn leads to greater loyalty, commitment & prosocial behavior in employees

Purpose

There are leaders and there are those who lead.

Leaders hold a position of power or influences. Those who lead inspire us.

Whether individuals or organizations, we follow those who lead not because we have to, but because we want to. We follow those who lead not for them, but for ourselves. ~ Simon Sinek

Self-Compassion (Neff)
Self-Esteem Competition Self-criticism Self-Compassion Being kind & understanding of oneself vs. self-critical Perceiving ones experiences as part of a larger human experience rather than isolating Being mindful of thoughts and feelings without identifying with them greater well-being superior performance & productivity openness to challenges and learning resilience, strength & emotional stability decreased stress

Thank you
Emma Seppala, Ph.D. Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education Stanford University emmas@stanford.edu

Compassion Interventions
CCARE Compassion Training: Increases compassion for self and other (Jazaieri et al, 2012), and increased happiness and decreased emotional suppression (Jazaieri et al, 2013) Emory Compassion Training: Reduce neuroendocrine, inflammatory, and behavioral responses to psychosocial stress (Pace et al., 2008) Loving-Kindness Meditation: Boost social connectedness (Hutcherson, Seppala, & Gross, 2008) Increase in positive emotions: amusement, awe, contentment, gratitude, hope, joy, interest, love and pride (Fredrickson et al., 2008) Increased neural activations for positive emotion, self regulation and resiliency (Weng et al., 2009) Compassion Trainings change behaviors Real impact on helping behavior towards strangers (Leiberg, Klimecki, & Singer, 2011 & Condon, Desbordes, Miller & DeSteno 2013). Active pursuit of fairness and equality (Weng et al., 2013).