Social ties influence health behavior, in part, because they influence, or “control,” our health habits (Umberson et al. 2010). For example, a spouse may monitor, inhibit, regulate, or facilitate health behaviors in ways that promote a partner’s health (Waite 1995). Religious ties also appear to influence health behavior, in part, through social control (Ellison and Levin 1998). Social ties can instill a sense of responsibility and concern for others that then lead individuals to engage in behaviors that protect the health of others, as well as their own health. Social ties provide information and create norms that further influence health habits. Thus, in a variety of ways, social ties may influence health habits that in turn affect physical health and mortality.
