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Social Wealth
Social wealth may be the most consistently undervalued dimension. Decades of research, including the Harvard Study of Adult Development (one of the longest longitudinal studies of human life), have found that the quality of your close relationships is one of the strongest predictors of life satisfaction, physical health, and longevity. People with rich social lives get sick less, recover faster when they do, and report higher well-being across virtually every metric. Yet modern life structures often work against connection.
What the Assessment Measures
The Social Wealth assessment scores four domains. Each has three multiple-choice questions and a self-rating slider. Close relationships count for 30%, community and communication for 25% each, and your support network for 20%:
- Close Relationships: How many close, trusted friends you have, how connected you are to family, and whether you can be open with the people you trust.
- Community & Belonging: Whether you are active in groups, contribute to your community, and feel you belong somewhere.
- Communication & Boundaries: How well you listen, handle conflict, and hold healthy boundaries.
- Support Network: Who you could call in an emergency, how varied your network is, and whether help flows both ways.
Quality Over Quantity
Social media has created the illusion that social wealth is about network size. The research says otherwise. Having 5 close, genuine friends is dramatically more valuable for well-being than having 500 acquaintances. The Harvard study found that what matters most is whether people feel they can count on someone in times of need, and that this feeling of security has direct physiological effects on stress response and health.
If you're evaluating your social wealth, the question isn't "how many people do I know?" but "is there someone I'd call at 2am if I had a genuine crisis?"
The Loneliness Epidemic
Loneliness has been described as a public health epidemic in many developed countries. The U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory on the epidemic of loneliness in 2023, noting that its health effects are comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes per day. People who feel chronically lonely have elevated cortisol, compromised immune function, worse sleep, and significantly higher mortality risk.
This doesn't mean you need to become extroverted or build a large social network. It means that investing in even a few genuine connections, and maintaining them intentionally, has meaningful health and quality-of-life returns.
Building and Maintaining Social Wealth
Relationships are not passive. They require investment. Like financial wealth, social wealth is built through consistent small deposits over time rather than occasional large events. The research on friendship formation shows that propinquity (repeated, unplanned interaction) and vulnerability (willingness to share authentically) are the two primary ingredients for friendship development.
Practically, this means: creating regular contexts for seeing the same people (a recurring lunch, a hobby group, a neighborhood walk), and being willing to move past surface-level conversation into more personal territory.
How to Improve Your Score
- Identify the 3–5 relationships that matter most to you and ask whether you're investing enough in them.
- Schedule recurring time with important people. Don't rely on spontaneity to maintain meaningful relationships.
- Join a group organized around something you're genuinely interested in. The shared interest provides natural propinquity.
- If you feel lonely, consider whether it's a quantity issue (too few connections) or a quality issue (connections that don't feel genuine). They require different solutions.
- Practice being the one who reaches out. Most people appreciate it more than they let on.
Related guides
Sources
- Over nearly 80 years, Harvard study has been showing how to live a healthy and happy life, Harvard Gazette, 2017
- Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2023
- Social Relationships and Mortality Risk: A Meta-analytic Review, Holt-Lunstad, Smith and Layton, PLOS Medicine, 2010
This guide is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not financial, medical, legal, or tax advice. Consult a qualified professional for guidance specific to your situation.