THE IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL INTIMACY
My Research
The Importance of Social Intimacy: My Research Background
As a Ph.D. student of clinical psychology at the University of Waterloo, I participated in practica in clinics and hospitals. As I worked with patients, it became clear to me that people who have close, supportive relationships with others are generally healthier, both physically and emotionally and cope better with stress.
"I became fascinated by the interaction of psychological and physical factors in determining health and resilience to stress."
I was especially interested in the role that social support and companionship play in helping people cope. Back in the late 1970’s, the idea that close relationships play a protective role in moderating the effects of stress was novel. Research exploring the impact that emotional and social factors have on the body, including the response of the immune system, was still in its infancy.
The Development of the Miller Social Intimacy Scale
In my master’s level research, I developed a psychological measure of social intimacy that can be used to quantify the degree of emotional closeness a person feels toward another person such as a family member, spouse, partner, or friend. I hypothesized that people who have relationships that are closer and more supportive can cope better with stress and experience fewer health problems. I developed and validated a measure of social intimacy, The Miller Social Intimacy Scale (MSIS).
My doctorate research employed this measure to explore the relationship between the degree of social intimacy that people experience and their adjustment to life stressors. My research showed that people who have low levels of social intimacy are prone to higher levels of emotional disturbance especially when they experience many negative life change events or few positive ones. People who have higher levels of social intimacy cope better.
In the years since its publication in 1982 many other researchers have employed the MSIS to investigate the role that social intimacy has on our emotional and physical health. The data have been consistent in pointing out the importance that close relationships have on our health and ability to cope with stress.
