From the comment you're replying to: > people who are obviously going to die earlier... Your parent was giving examples based on people who are near death. If

From the comment you're replying to: > people who are obviously going to die earlier... Your parent was giving examples based on people who are near death. If sick old people know they are near the end, they may be less likely to spend precious time and energy chasing after new friends. The point is that we don't know the causality. The study is specifically about old people too, so this seems like a plausible explanation.