The Ties that Bind are Fraying

How many people have you discussed important issues with over the past six months? Sociologists asked that question in the 1985 and created the first picture of Americans’ networks of confidants. Answers to the same question in 2004 uncovered something remarkable: Americans had one-third fewer confidants than two decades earlier. It seems a close, homogeneous set of social ties may be emerging, focused on the strong bonds of the nuclear family but not those with neighbors or other affiliates.

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Social Isolation, Loneliness, and All-cause Mortality in Older men and Women – Journalist's Resource: Research for Reporting, from Harvard Shorenstein Center

March 28, 2013

[...] research: A 2008 study from Duke and Cornell, “The Ties that Bind are Fraying,” notes that Americans reported having one-third fewer confidants in 2004 than they did in the [...]


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