The Winding Path

Despite the ubiquity of the Internet in the developed world, and despite its pervasive influence on our lives, many people still believe social interaction via the Internet to always be a poor substitute for face-to-face interaction.

Social interaction via the Internet is further stigmatised by sorrowful events such as widely publicised Internet suicides.

While it is clear that, in some cases, the detrimental effects of social isolation are not relieved by certain kinds of Internet based interaction, it is not evident that Internet interaction is likely to be detrimental for all. In fact many studies over the last decade or two, as reviewed by Yair Amichai-Hamburger and Adrian Furnham in their paper entitled The Positive Net, have shown that Internet based interaction can be very helpful for some people, particularly those who experience social anxiety and are often targeted as needing the most non-Internet based interaction.

In a pair of studies in 1998, researchers McKenna and Bargh found that individuals in two distinct types of socially stigmatised groups experienced increased self-acceptance and lessened feelings of social isolation and abnormality as a result of group Internet based involvement with like-minded people. Thus the Internet provides great access to support via high visibility of those groups through search engines and directory listings, and many opportunities for convenient contribution. Of further help is the organisation of that contribution through features such as automatic collation of message into threads, making it easy to follow the discussion of a particular topic.

Not only does the Internet offer access to diverse support groups, but it also offers individual empowerment -which is especially important for those who are socially inhibited- through anonymity, which aids self-disclosure, control over interaction, which increases self-confidence, and easing the process of finding similar people. However it’s possible that this empowerment won’t be easily extended to the off-line world by those who suffer from extreme social anxiety, so Amichai-Hamburber and Furnham have proposed a graded series of modes of interaction which aim to ease people into full face-to-face interaction. The steps are:

1. Communicating by text only
   This could take many forms, from email to instant messaging to forums and other discussion groups.
2. Text + image
   At this step both people could set up webcams, but continue to converse through text.
3. Communicating by video + audio
   This stage substitutes text for audio chat.
4. Face-to-face interaction
   When ready the participants can meet in person, fully prepared for genuine, relaxed interaction after having gradually shared intimate details with each other at their own pace.

But what about those who aren’t socially anxious? Well, where relationships are concerned, researchers McKenna, Green and Gleason found that people who formed their first impression over the Internet liked their partner more after meeting face-to-face in comparison to only meeting in person without any prior interaction. Since Internet based interaction facilitates mutual self-disclosure, McKenna et. al. believe that this creates stronger relationships than those based on physical attractiveness. They also found that those in strong Internet relationships endeavour to make them an off-line relationship as well. This has certainly been my experience, both on the Internet and off; the hallmark of my close friendships has been early mutual candid revelation of personal details, and the interaction has moved off the Internet whenever possible.

Amichai-Hamburger also suggests that the Internet aids contact between differing groups, including those of different ethnic, social and religious backgrounds. This is facilitated by status equality (many off-line status symbols have no relevance on-line), by aiding cooperation towards high value goals, and by allowing more frank disclosure through anonymity.

The Internet may make it easier for individuals to be included in such groups by allowing the individual to find a role which enables fulfilling self-expression. If, on the Internet, a group tries to enforce a particular role on an individual it is much easier than in face-to-face encounters for that individual to disagree, express alternatives, or simply leave.

While it’s certainly important for us all to be aware of the pitfalls of using the Internet for social interaction, of equal importance is the many benefits, particularly for those most susceptible to those pitfalls.

Personally I’d hate to see, for example, parents greatly restrict their child’s access to the Internet because of fears of negative influence. These fears, and indeed the negative influence itself, can be eliminated by appropriate monitoring of a child’s use, and encouragement in involvement in the many beneficial opportunities for interaction, especially the plentiful opportunities which children will actually enjoy!.

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While doing some research for an essay on social psychology, I came across a fairly recent article about a paper¹ which reported on a study of how social networks influence obesity. The paper’s authors Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler found that friends have the greatest influence, followed by siblings, followed by spouses, with neighbours showing no significant effect. They also found that friends and siblings of the same sex seemed to influence each other’s obesity more than did those of the opposite sex. However, spouses did not seem to have as much influence as mutual friends, suggesting that the opposite-sex and friendship influences may cancel each other out.

One conclusion which may be of further interest to you my loyal readers is that, rather than being the result of behavioural imitation, the spread of obesity may be more closely related to the perceived acceptance of obesity in those we hold in high esteem. That is, it seems that your belief about whether or not being obese is ok, is influenced more by your level of esteem for a friend, and how much you think they accept their obesity, than it is by what they actually eat. So it’s not that one obese person eats hamburgers all the time and so their friend starts doing it too. No, it seems that the obese person believes it’s ok to be obese, so the friend’s beliefs shift to be in agreement. They may not eat the same things but they are both likely to put on weight.

Thankfully the study also showed that thinness is contagious too. Perhaps not equally so, but none-the-less the effect is there. So if you want to lose weight the usual good advice still applies, but you’re more likely to be successful if you have healthy skinny friends whom you hold in high esteem.

Amusingly the study shows that distance is irrelevant, so it’s basically a nice piece of evidence in favour of being my friend, where ever in the world you may be.

1: Christakis N. A., Fowler J. H. (2007, July). The Spread of Obesity in a Large Social Network over 32 Years. The New England Journal of Medicine, 357(4), 370-379

I can’t have a blog titled “The Winding Path” without a post about footpath etiquette now can I?

Why do some people think they own the world, and show it by swearing at you as they almost knock you over as they march on past? Why do groups of people meander or loiter whilst taking up the entire footpath, forcing you to get off the footpath they’re not even walking on? Why do some people stop abruptly despite the fact they’re in heavy traffic and you’re right behind them?

I find that most people living in a city are considerate of others when they walk along a footpath. A quick glance is usually enough to avoid a collision when crowding makes it difficult to keep to a straight path. Yet some people insist on ignoring common courtesy, sometimes unconsciously, other times willfully and aggressively.

Reasons for breaches of footpath etiquette

Some people get so lost in their own world that it takes nothing less than a near collision to snap them back. The most common example is the person who is walking along at a steady pace, then suddenly stops or turns around. A less common example is the person who suddenly veers sideways without first checking to see if they’re about to veer into someone else’s path. In both cases you have to slam on the brakes lest you plow into them. I hope for their sake none of those near collisions become real ones of the fatal kind, involving less forgiving, rapidly moving metal boxes on wheels.

A similar breach is committed by two groups of fellow pedestrians with very different agendas. The happy couple who slowly stroll along, oblivious to everyone but themselves can be annoying, but it’s very unlikely that they’ll bother you unless you’re feeling spiteful. They’re in love and probably won’t want that love interfering with anyone else’s lives; they just unaware of their negative influence.

Not so pleasant is the group of people strung out across the footpath, all members oblivious to the other people using the path, or each member refusing to be the one to drop out of the line. It could be a form of power play, where no individual wants to be seen as less than their friends so all refuse to give way.

A more forgivable reason is unfamiliarity with local customs. If you’ve lead a relatively sheltered life (meaning you haven’t been exposed to much outside your culture, regardless of how complex that culture may be) you’re understandably going to find it difficult to adjust to different customs. If it’s not clear that in Australia you should walk on the left side (and some people’s flouting of this unspoken rule makes it less than obvious), then you probably won’t realise it until you’ve had a few near collisions, despite all the dark looks you also get. A look doesn’t say anything to someone who doesn’t understand why they’re being scowled at.

Countries where people do not have much personal space are ones in which people are likely to jostle each other as they attempt to make their way through crowds. This is why some people will barge onto a train without showing concern for the people they elbow out of the way; it was necessary in their country of birth and has become habitual. That is no excuse for not trying to change their ways here in Australia, of course. Here’s a story of one American’s experiences living in Asia.

Low self-esteem will also influence behaviour. Some people think so little of themselves that they believe they should get out of everyone else’s way, and they do so, all the time. In some ways it’s good that this type of behaviour isn’t all that common, it shows that not-so-many people have such low self-esteem, and I do feel a little ashamed when I laugh at the poor kid who jumps sideways a couple of times to avoid being run over by businessmen hurrying to work.

One the opposite end of the scale of self-esteem is arrogance. Some people seem to believe that they are the most important person in the world and they expect everyone to acknowledge that by damn well staying out of their way.

Power, self-importance, and awareness

I think overinflated self-importance and lack of awareness are the two key reasons for poor footpath etiquette. As this study seems to show that perception of power, which could be considered the perceived ratio of importance, governs how much space one person will give another. Here’s a quote from the extract:

“Pedestrians deviated in their paths to stay farther from a male than a female, farther from two people than from one person, and farther from a beautiful than an unattractive woman. Sex, number, and attractiveness may be regarded as aspects of power, which serve to dominate various amounts of space.”

The more important a person considers him- or herself, the more power they believe they have, the more they delegate responsibility for awareness to others, and the more space they expect to be granted.

Do what’s best for all, including yourself

There are plenty of sites which list rules or guidelines to follow to maintain good footpath etiquette, or suggestions on how to deal with those who are less considerate, or just let off steam. Hopefully this piece will shed some light on why people behave the way they do, allowing you to understand and do your part to improve everyone’s walking experience. After all, it’s something we do every day and we shouldn’t take it for granted; some don’t even have the option…