Facebook's Zuckerberg wants to figure out social equation

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Facebook's Zuckerberg wants to figure out social equation
by Staff Writers
San Francisco (AFP) July 1, 2015

Kindness is a social lubricant for socially anxious people
Vancouver, British Columbia (UPI) Jul 1, 2015 - Doing good is good for you, especially if you're socially anxious.

Social anxiety can be a debilitating psychological condition. Beyond being shy, people with social anxiety often avoid forming relationships, and miss out on important human connections. Forget intimacy, socially anxious people can have trouble feeling comfortable with even the closest of friends.

But a new study suggests a remedy may be kindness -- or performing acts of kindness. Doing good for others, scientists in Canada recently found, provokes a more positive view of the world and the potential for human bonds.

Researchers Jennifer Trew of Simon Fraser University and Lynn Alden of the University of British Columbia came to the revelation after intervention strategies on social anxious students. After recruiting 115 college students with social anxiety issues, researchers divided the study participants into three groups.

Over the course of a month, one group was tasked with performing acts of kindness -- doing their roommate's dishes, for example, or mowing their neighbors lawn. Another group was exposed to different socialization scenarios, while the third was simply asked to keep a diary.

At the conclusion of the study, those who had lent a helping hand to others reported lower levels of apprehension about social interaction.

"Acts of kindness may help to counter negative social expectations by promoting more positive perceptions and expectations of a person's social environment," Trew said in a press release. "It helps to reduce their levels of social anxiety and, in turn, makes them less likely to want to avoid social situations."

"An intervention using this technique may work especially well early on while participants anticipate positive reactions from others in response to their kindness," added Alden.

The work of Trew and Alden was published this week in the journal Motivation and Emotion.

Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg figures there could be a formula that explains how people think.

During a wide-ranging online question-and-answer session on his Facebook page Tuesday, Zuckerberg told famed physicist Stephen Hawking he would like to find that equation.

"I'm most interested in questions about people," Zuckerberg said in a written chat forum response to Hawking asking what big questions in science he would like to know the answers to.

Zuckerberg responded with a list that included how the brain works and immortality.

"I'm also curious about whether there is a fundamental mathematical law underlying human social relationships that governs the balance of who and what we all care about," Zuckerberg added.

"I bet there is."

Hollywood powerhouse and fitness champion Arnold Schwarzenegger weighed in with a question about Zuckerberg's exercise routine.

"You've got to be one of the busiest guys on the planet, and younger generations can probably relate to you more than they can the Pope - so tell me how you find time to train and what is your regimen like?" the one-time California governor asked Zuckerberg.

Zuckerberg said he works out at least three times weekly, usually in the mornings.

He added that he takes his dog running whenever he can "which has the added bonus of being hilarious because that is basically like seeing a mop run."

The online question-and-answer session drew so many visitors that it stumbled technically, going offline for a few minutes due to what Facebook diagnosed to be "an overload of likes."

When asked his take on happiness, Zuckerberg said it was doing things that he believes in with people he loves.

"I think lots of people confuse happiness with fun," Zuckerberg said.

"I don't believe it is possible to have fun every day. But I do believe it is possible to do something meaningful that helps people every day."

While sharing thoughts on the future of Facebook, Zuckerberg said that immersive experiences such as virtual reality will become mainstream and that people will eventually able to share what they are sensing or feeling.

"One day, I believe we'll be able to send full rich thoughts to each other directly using technology," Zuckerberg said.

"You'll just be able to think of something and your friends will immediately be able to experience it too if you'd like."

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