The pandemic has created profound unease among people, especially because it has particularly affected social relationships, which are vital for us human beings, not only because we are social animals and even the emotional balance of a society depends on them.
Our interactions and relationships, in fact, are also extremely important for our inner well-being and for our brain development, even from a very early age, as demonstrated by neurosociology and positive psychology.
The influence of social interactions on evolutionary development
Until the 1970s, the study of the brain and its anatomical structures was conducted by thinking of humans as isolated individuals rather than as members of a community. Gradually, the discussion began to broaden its scope to include sociality, taking into account relationships with the individual's family of origin. However, broader and more complex social experiences were still a long way from being considered.
What distinguishes the human species from others is that, while most mammals limit interactions and forms of social experience to the family group, many primate species transcend this, and humans are uniquely capable of building increasingly heterogeneous groups, even to the point of creating cities and nations. Today, thanks to sophisticated investigative tools such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMR), positron emission tomography (PET), and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), combined with behavioral studies, we know that social relationships play a fundamental role in the survival and well-being of animals that live in groups.
Indeed, depending on the quality of social interactions, neurons change biologically and brain structures physically transform. Therefore, social relationships also have significant effects on quality of life , a key prerequisite for the adaptation, evolution, and survival of the species. It is social relationships that have allowed our species to make the great leap forward in the evolutionary ladder. Indeed, even our ancestors, when they were busy foraging for food, tended to share and consume it in groups, together with others.
It is thanks to the quantity and quality of social interactions that our ancestors were able to build increasingly larger and more efficient social groups, capable of ensuring mutual protection, a greater capacity to understand the environment, maximise the yield of its resources and procure the means necessary to defend themselves and create tools, utensils and weapons. From a phylogenetic point of view, the mirror neuron system could have developed first of all because man, learning to cook food, was able to dedicate more time to more interesting things, such as social relations, observing other human beings. Consequently, the continuous exercises of observation and embodied simulation allowed him to continuously strengthen his mirror system [1].
Social Interaction and Social Relationship
When we talk about social interaction and social relationships, we don't mean the same thing. Social interaction refers to the mutual influence, as a sequence of action and reaction, between two or more actors. Thanks to the mirror system, each automatically and unconsciously understands the other's intentions and emotions. Brains are interconnected because internal experience is shared between them and vice versa.
According to L. Cozolino, social interaction between two people can be compared to the interaction between two neurons forming a synapse. The physical space separating two acting subjects, which he calls a social synapse , is similar to a neural synapse, but in it, instead of neurotransmitters, we find behaviors that convey social information, such as a smile, a gesture, a movement, and so on. These behaviors produce biological changes in the people interacting, and this results in the shaping of brain structures through mutual influence.
Social synapses connect individuals to larger organisms, from the family to small groups, society, and the human species as a whole. Individuals' biological systems, therefore, are closely interconnected. It follows that we evolve as social creatures; a neuron without synapses dies. Likewise, there can be no individual without social relationships, which constitute a natural habitat.
“Neurons that fire at the same time connect together. People who are capable of caring for each other, of being tender, of speaking and connecting also fire together and survive together” (Cozolino, 2008). [2] Social relationships derive from a series of social interactions characterized by a bond that can be emotional, educational, work-related, etc. Essentially, they are characterized by an “experience” of social interactions, even if this does not always become a social relationship.
We do not have a social relationship unless there is also a decidedly confidential relationship, furthermore, it is not necessarily true that occasional or causal social interactions preclude the existence of a social relationship, for example it is possible to meet a person at very long intervals of time but have a social relationship with him because he is a relative or a friend to whom we are very close. [3] Within social relationships, therefore, there is a reciprocal orientation of the actions of the actors and this determines their depth or superficiality.
The relational habitat shapes the quality of individual and collective life
Since the 1960s and 1970s, the topic of quality of life has gained increasing cultural and research interest. Today, health, well-being, and participation have become true values. When we talk about mental health, we no longer consider this definition synonymous with the absence of depressive or anxious symptoms, or diagnosed symptoms, but rather we refer to a state of well-being that allows an individual to overcome life's inherent tensions, find satisfaction in their work, and contribute to the social life of their community.
A person's daily well-being is also linked to their relational habitat . Social relationships are fundamental to an individual's survival, not only for their integration into their living environment but also for their internal psycho-emotional well-being, which is why it is important to care for them. Positive social interactions, where one receives support and a listening ear, promote a good mood, and also help strengthen the immune system by lowering stress levels, which are responsible for the production of pro-inflammatory hormones. Alongside objective and material well-being , the need for subjective and psychological well-being has grown significantly in our society. Consequently, the focus is shifting from the problems to be solved in life to what makes it worth living.
Positive psychology, developed in the late 1990s, studies the mechanisms that help us feel good and combat the effects of stress by stimulating natural psychological defenses, such as creativity, empathy, and forgiveness, and which are geared toward the individual's healthy social functioning. Consideration focuses not only on the predominantly personal aspect, the pleasure associated with positive emotions and sensations, but also on what is useful to the individual and enriches their personality, whose happiness is achieved through the use of their abilities.
In this sense, the focus is on the factors that favor the development of human potential and that lead the individual to integrate with the environment around him. Therefore, a broader process of interaction and mutual influence between individual and collective well-being must be considered, the result of which leads to a concept of individual happiness that is realized within the social context [4].
Consequently, it is also necessary to consider positive institutions (such as democracy, family, freedom of information), which support positive traits which in turn support positive emotions. These concrete aspects play their role both in moments of well-being and in times of crisis [5] . Western society and its related culture are characterised by an individualistic conception of success. In fact, although socialisation agencies such as family, school, sport, etc. have in common an educational approach based on cooperation and sharing, the daily life that children and adults face often offers opposite models.
In all socialization contexts, where each individual during the brain maturation phase should develop appropriate behaviors that complement the shaping and strengthening of social brain structures, reality often conflicts with the instructions received, as behavioral models are offered that are dissonant with the teachings imparted. Learning, which in this case is socialization as well as education, is the product of social relationships experienced in these contexts, where often, even unconsciously, comparisons and competition are fostered.
Promoting participation , on the other hand, is preferable to generate awareness and orientation to act in the local contexts of belonging, as it facilitates knowledge of the people who live in an area, allows for a better understanding between them and their environment, fosters a sense of responsibility and can be a vehicle for positive social change, increasing individual and social well-being in the community [6].
A global concept of well-being
Happiness and well-being today tend to be increasingly associated not only with positive emotions and life satisfaction and fulfillment, but also with a state of inner harmony. It's not just an emotional aspect, therefore, but a state of balance. Directly or indirectly, the elements associated with well-being are influenced by a group (natural or acquired family, kinship, and similar relationships) into which the individual is integrated and with which he or she necessarily has direct relational contacts, even while remaining completely independent of his or her activities.
The existential state of well-being is connected to a set of factors that govern the psyche independently of physical sensations and the emotions triggered by interaction with the surrounding environment, and therefore may contain contradictory elements. A feeling of psychological pleasure, therefore, can be linked to a physical condition that could involve risk or danger—think, for example, of the feelings of psychological pleasure that arise from extreme activities like jumping from very high bridges while tied to a bungee cord.
The concept of individual well-being , in light of this, can be subject to limitations stemming from the external natural and social environment, which can conflict with the individual's freedom of choice and hinder their achievement of psychological well-being due to sacrifices or revaluations. As a global concept of well-being , therefore, we must consider that it also depends on the ethnic and cultural traditions of social groups in terms of participation and presence, which go beyond the purely individual sphere.
What comes into play, therefore, are the maximum usability of goods and services, including relational ones, within the context of life, an optimal condition and perception of health and comfort, and the possibility of maintaining it for longer at an individual level.
“Relational goods” and “relational evils” as indicators of subjective and social well-being
In today's reality and in the social context in which each individual finds himself operating, psycho-physical well-being is intimately connected with social well-being, both because in fact the right to the preservation of health is part of those social rights acquired by man during the evolution of institutional structures (economic, productive, health-related), and because the exercise of this right depends on the good efficiency of their organisation [7].
P. Donati defines social relationships as "relational goods," not simply understood as positive and altruistic human connections, but also as bearers of economic, political, moral, and educational value. They are "human" indicators of the well-being of an entire community, through friendship, trust, cooperation, social cohesion, solidarity, and peace. In all contexts of life, human relationships can be experienced as a source of discomfort or well-being due to the climate they create. Material goods can stimulate or foster their creation. For example, sharing meals also involves sharing feelings and news, while works of art or concerts support positive relationships among those who enjoy them, nurturing a sense of belonging and identity.
Happiness, therefore, depends on our relationships; they are neither projections of individuals' subjectivity nor the sum of their individual actions, but a reality that exceeds them and reflects upon them. For example, friendship is not a simple processual exchange, but a structured relationship, with a reality that exceeds the feelings and actions of those who are friends, though neither is it a structure that dominates them and imposes itself against their will, since they can always redefine it or abandon it. Friendship springs from the human person but cannot be an individual fact; one cannot be friends as an individual, but rather recognizes something that belongs to neither, even though it belongs to both. Like society, it belongs simultaneously to both and to neither.
Sharing gives meaning, content, and form to friendship; it is not a separate collective reality or something imposed. Relationships are a prototype of a social form that exists "among" people, connecting them in unity and diversity, which must be promoted and respected. Their structure conceals an invisible, intangible reality that is crucial to achieving the integration of the social fabric. Unlike public goods, whether material or ideal, relational goods require the ongoing commitment of those who participate on a voluntary basis, and this links them to the quality of social life. Interpersonal relationships are necessary, and sharing is required, with all the difficulties and benefits that this entails.
Relational good consists in two or more individuals interacting with each other, nurturing their shared relationship, which yields benefits they could not otherwise obtain. Trust generates a shared bond, which becomes a stable structure of mutual expectations, nurtured by those involved in the relationship. The fruits are morally positive benefits, such as mutual understanding of flaws and forgiveness of mistakes, which generate and regenerate trust and cooperation. However, it is not excluded that "relational ills" may also arise, the product of relationships lacking in reciprocity, sharing, and identity, and connected to those pathological forms of reflexivity known as blocked, impeded, or fractured reflexivity (an example of relational ill is mafia complicity).
"From a sociological perspective, reflexivity is a relational operation performed by an individual mind in relation to an 'Other' within a social context, which generates a relationship that is an emergent effect between the terms it connects" (Donati 2011, p. 79). When relational reflexivity fails, empathic openness toward others declines, and true relational pathologies appear, which are relational ills due to strong distortions or deficiencies in relational intelligence. In conclusion, people can be socially generative of social cohesion by acting as relational subjects who interact with reflexivity.
In particular, primary networks, such as family and school, can generate further relational goods that humanize the person. Relationships between individuals and an increasingly broader society are also reconfigured on the basis of these imprints until a relational society is created characterized by a socially, economically and culturally "good life", redefined as the possibility of enjoying ever-improving opportunities for all. Our destiny as people and members of a society (of a work organization, of an association, of a family) with these characteristics is therefore linked to whether or not we become competent relational subjects [8] and capable of investing more in relational goods.
Federica Ucci
[1] M. Blanco, Fundamentals of Neurosociology, Primiceri Editore, 2016
[2] L. Cozolino, The Social Brain: Neuroscience of Human Relations, Raffaello Cortina Editore, Milan, 2008.
[3] M. Blanco, Op. Cit. pages 184-185
[4] E. Stracuzzi, Happiness and Well-Being: Synonyms or Parallel Paths?, Passerino Editore, 2020.
[5] G.F. Goldwurm (ed.), Positive Psychology: Applications for Well-Being, Erikson, 2010.
[6] F. Procentese, F. Gatti, “A Sense of Responsible Coexistence: What Role in the Relationship between Participation and Social Well-Being?”, in Rivista di Psicologia Sociale n. 3, September-December 2019, Il Mulino.
[7] RA Perricone Somogyi, Sociology and Ethics of Well-Being, Armando Editore, 2006.
[8] P. Donati, Discovering Relational Goods: To Generate a New Sociality, Rubettino, 2020.
Bibliographic and web references
- Mr. Blanco, Fundamentals of Neurosociology, Primiceri Editore, 2016
- L. Cozolino, The Social Brain: Neuroscience of Human Relationships, Raffaello Cortina Editore, Milan, 2008.
- P. Donati, Discovering relational goods: to generate a new sociality, Rubettino, 2020.
- GF Goldwurm (edited by), Positive Psychology: Applications for Well-Being, Erikson, 2010.
- F. Procentese, F. Gatti, A sense of responsible coexistence: what role does it play in the relationship between participation and social well-being?, in Journal of Social Psychology n. 3, September-December 2019, Il Mulino.
- RA Perricone Somogyi, Sociology and ethics of well-being, Armando Publisher, 2006.
- E. Stracuzzi, Happiness and well-being: synonyms or parallel paths?, Passerino Editore, 2020.
