The Social Biome

“Finally, a science-based user guide for how to navigate social interactions to live better lives. Elegantly written and grounded in cutting-edge research, The Social Biome is a tour de force.”—Ethan Kross, author of Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It “With loneliness and isolation on the rise, our need for dignified connection has never been greater. This timely book gives us the skills to navigate the social world so that we can experience the power of belonging and the loving relationships we all yearn for.”—Donna Hicks, Ph.D., author of Dignity: Its Essential Role in Resolving Conflict “Friendship is the most important thing you can have in life. If you do just one thing next week, read The Social Biome to find out why it matters and how to do it better.”—Robin Dunbar, author of Friends: Understanding the Power of Our Most Important Relationships “How refreshing to aspire toward life-giving social belonging! The Social Biome provides doable actions and shows how mere moments of day-to-day interactions accumulate to satisfy our human need to belong.”—Louise Hawkley, senior fellow, NORC at the University of Chicago “In this galvanizing book, Andy Merolla and Jeffrey Hall explain how and why we’ve become more and more self-focused and provide a practical prescription for making small changes to add more social connection to our lives.”—Gillian Sandstrom, director, The Sussex Centre for Research on Kindness, University of Sussex   “One of the most important books in recent years about the relevance of social life to human health.”—Stephen M. Yoshimura, director, Communication and Well-Being Lab, University of Montana