Third, past work on social ties and health habits tends to emphasize the benefits of social ties for health, yet research on stress clearly shows that strained social ties undermine health. Given the ability of social ties to have both positive and negative effects on health, existing research has likely underestimated the true impact of social ties on health. Future research should consider how the positive and negative facets of social ties work together to influence health outcomes, as well as consider how this balance may vary over the life course and across social groups.
