Movements Must Proactively Encourage Relationships
Relationships are core to building movements. So what happens when a pandemic keeps people apart and reduces happiness? How do you build togetherness for a movement when we can’t be together?
The research I led shows that although general feelings of loneliness did not significantly increase during COVID-19, a larger population is a risk of at least one factor of loneliness from the pandemic. At the same time, those saying they were happy decreased during the pandemic.
What does this mean for those of us trying to build movement participation? Loneliness is based upon our ability to connect with others. This means it’s up to us to reach out to those we want to engage more often and in ways that are more likely to build trusted relationships.
