stRong ties strong ties are the people we care about most Strong ties are our closest friends and family. They are the people we trust the most, and the people we turn to for emotional support. Strong ties are very important for maintaining our wellbeing. Research has shown that people with strong ties have lower incidents of heart disease, and get fewer cases of colds and the flu. 2 Family members are disproportionately represented among our strong ties. Our strong ties include friends, family, coworkers, and neighbors, and family can sometimes represent up to half of our strong ties, despite there being many fewer family members than non- family members in our social network. When all else is equal, family gets preference. strong ties o u l mat e s on f i da n t co s m f o rt e r c s s strong ties are often described as the people in our "inner circle." st ro n g t i e s 59