Social interactions, loneliness and health : a new angle on an old debate

This paper investigates the relationship between historically rooted norms that drive individuals to adhere to predefined behavioural standards and attitudes towards loneliness. Focusing on a sub-population of second-generation immigrants, we identify an intergenerationally transmitted component of culture that respects the importance of restrained discipline and rules characterising highly intensive pre-industrial agricultural systems. We illustrate how this cultural dimension impacts perceptions of the quality of social relationships and plays a substantial role in the likelihood of experiencing loneliness. Subsequently, we show the validity of the identified trait as an instrument for loneliness in a two-stage model for health. We also ftnd that loneliness has a direct impact on body mass index and specific mental health issues, with these results being robust across a range of sensitivity checks. These findings contribute to the growing body of research emphasising the pivotal role of attitudes in predicting significant economic and health outcomes, thus opening up a new pathway through which deeply-rooted geographical, cultural, and individual characteristics can influence comparative economic development processes in both origin and destination countries.