social connection & compassion's impact on health & organizations- emma seppala
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Social Connection & Compassions
Impact on Health & Organizations
Emma Seppala, Ph.D.
Center for Compassion and Altruism
Research and Education
STANFORD UNIVERSITY
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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 byits loss...the human being is born with the need for contact and tenderness
~Fromm-Reichmann, 1959
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Social connection
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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
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Harlow, 1958
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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
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Extoversion
Neuroticism
Well-Being
Psychological
Distress
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Extoversion
Neuroticism
Well-Being
Psychological
Distress
Social Connection
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Extoversion
Neuroticism
Well-Being
Psychological
Distress
Social Connection
LOW
HIGH
Lee, Dean & Jung, 2008
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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)
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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 stressfullife 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)
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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
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Loving-Kindness Meditation
(LKM)
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Study Outline
TIME 1 TIME 2Manipulation
And/or
N=93, 57% female6 minutes
Hutcherson, Seppala & Gross, 2008
OR
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Targeted LKM
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Control (Neutral)
Manipulation
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How [X] do you
feel right now?
Mood
Angry Calm
Anxious Happy
Unhappy Loving
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Target
Non-TargetHow [connected/similar/positive]
do you feel to the person in the
photograph?
Explicit Social Connectedness
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Implicit Social Connectedness
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Implicit Social Connectedness
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Implicit Social Connectedness
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NICE
Implicit Social Connectedness
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Implicit Social Connectedness
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Implicit Social Connectedness
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Implicit Social Connectedness
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ANGRY
Implicit Social Connectedness
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Implicit Social Connectedness
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non- target tar- get
Change in Implicit
Connectedness
*
* p
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Change in Mood
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Changeinimplicitpositivitytotarget
Change in Positive Mood
r= .39,p < .001
Sobel z-test: z = 2.19 p
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Stress/Trauma
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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)
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Organizations
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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)
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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
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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
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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
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Thank you
Emma Seppala, Ph.D.
Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education
Stanford University
C i I i
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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).