Why We Need Friends with Shared Interests

The Science of Happiness

PRX and Greater Good Science Center

Science, Social Sciences

4.4 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 2 March 2023

⏱️ 17 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Episode summary:

Having strong relationships is vital to our well-being. We tend to be happier and healthier when we’re involved with community. Today’s guest is the world-famous scientist Temple Grandin. She was born with autism, which led her to be socially isolated from her peers. Join us on this episode of The Science of Happiness to hear about how Grandin credits her support networks for her success and making her into the person she is today. We’ll also look at the science behind the health repercussions of not having strong social networks.

Today’s guests:

Temple Grandin is a leading animal behaviorist, prominent author and speaker on autism and animal behaviors. Today, she teaches courses at Colorado State University. Her latest book is Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns, and Abstractions.

Temple’s Website: https://www.templegrandin.com

Follow Temple on Twitter: https://twitter.com/drtemplegrandin?lang=en

Check out Temple’s Latest Book: https://tinyurl.com/3tftxpck

Tegan Cruwyis is a clinical psychologist at The National Australian University who studies social connection and how loneliness and chronic isolation are literally toxic.

Learn more about Cruwyis and her work: https://tinyurl.com/3etuvket

Follow Cruwyis on Google Scholar: https://tinyurl.com/yc5ujhaj

Resources from The Greater Good Science Center:

Four Ways Social Support Makes You More Resilient https://tinyurl.com/34ntce8u

What is Social Connection? https://tinyurl.com/nk8crbbz

Is Social Connection the Best Path to Happiness? https://tinyurl.com/4wxc66tn

Why are We so Wired to Connect? https://tinyurl.com/uttppd3p

More Resources for Improving Social Connections

Emotional Wellness Checklist https://tinyurl.com/4wxc66tn

How to Strengthen Social Relationships https://tinyurl.com/5fdv8ra9

The Science of Social Connection https://tinyurl.com/3tftxpck

Tell us about your experiences with building social connections. Email us at [email protected] or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Help us share The Science of Happiness!

Leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or share this link with someone who might like the show: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap

Transcript

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0:00.0	I had a lot of good things happen.
0:08.9	Did lots of fun things when I was in my elementary school years, I had a really good childhood,
0:14.5	playing outside, making things where I started to get into trouble was in high school.
0:22.7	High school is an absolute disaster of bullying and teasing.
0:27.4	Absolutely terrible.
0:30.8	I went to a large girls' school and girls at the teenagers, they were more than boys
0:36.3	than doing things like doling things.
0:39.4	And I ended up getting kicked out because I threw a book at a girl called me.
0:44.2	And I ended up getting sent to a special boarding school for kids with problems.
0:50.4	I was absolutely not motivated to study.
0:53.4	I had basically just messed around and not done any studying.
0:58.1	Then my science teacher came along and what he did is he gave me the motivation to study
1:05.1	because now studying was a pathway to a goal of becoming a scientist.
1:12.2	Without my science teacher I don't think I would have gotten through high school.
1:17.8	Welcome to the Science of Happiness, I'm Dacker Keltner.
1:21.1	Our guest today is one of my intellectual and cultural heroes, Temple Grandin.
1:26.0	Born with autism, she was ostracized by her peers, socially isolated, and experienced
1:31.4	a lot of anxiety as a child.
1:33.6	Now Temple is a world famous scientist and she credits this to her support networks.
1:40.2	We hear from Temple about the kinds of relationships that shape who she is today.
1:44.7	And we also talk about what the research has to say about health repercussions of not
1:49.1	having strong social networks.
	...

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