Consequential Strangers

Yesterday, that headline was picked up by the BBC News, Wall Street Journal, and Science Daily, and will undoubtedly continue travel through the blogosphere for weeks to come.  A study  conducted by researchers at the University of Chicago and reported in the journal Cancer Prevention Research (click here for the abstract) began six years ago when a team, led by a cancer specialist and a biobehavioral psychologist, raised two groups of mice that were genetically predisposed to develop breast cancer.   Some lived with other mice and some lived alone.  After the same amount of time, the isolated mice grew larger breast cancer tumors.  Mice in the "stressful environment"--isolation--also behaved differently and had higher stress hormone levels. Read More

We may not be judged by the company we keep, but we're certainly influenced by it. That's a theme that runs through Consequential Strangers: The Power of People Who Don't Seem to Matter. My collaborator, Karen Fingerman, who coined the term consequential strangers, makes the point that people on the periphery influence our behavior as much as intimates do-and our book draws from many different strands of research to explain why this is the case. But according to the advance promotion for an upcoming book, Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives,we are also influenced by people we don't know: Read More

Do you ever wonder why some people get all the breaks--and get ahead--with seeming ease? What's their secret?  It may be that they're smart, or that they simply went to the "right" schools.  But research indicates that it's not always privilege that opens doors.  It's also a matter of "culture smarts." 
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