Why We Need Community

The idea that our relationships and connections to other human beings is an important part of living a healthy, fulfilling life is nothing new. In fact, it’s now a proven scientific fact—in 2017, Harvard released the results from its Study of Adult Development, one of the longest-running studies on happiness, which followed 268 men since they were students in 1938 and later their offspring. The results confirmed that it’s our personal relationships, more than anything else, that is our measure of happiness and wellbeing. 

“When we gathered together everything we knew about them at age 50, it wasn’t their middle-age cholesterol levels that predicted how they were going to grow old,” said Robert Waldinger, director of the study, in a TED Talk about the findings. “It was how satisfied they were in their relationships.”

And yet, while brands and businesses may be using the word ‘community’ with growing frequency, societal changes spanning the internet boom and a pandemic seem to have made it increasingly challenging to find and nurture real-life social connections.