Humans are wired for social connection. Without social ties, distress emerges and health fails. In this sense, social connection seems to be a biological imperative. Social ties influence health in part through health behavior, and this influence plays out across the life course. Social ties and their impact on health habits, at any particular life stage, cascade into the future by shaping trajectories of change and turning points in social ties and health habits over time. Indeed, social tie/health habit linkages represent intrinsically sociological terrain in that these social processes unfold over time in ways that influence population health and mortality.
