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Want to live a happier life? Try surrounding yourself with happy friends or at least find friends with happy friends. A study published online December 4th in the British Medical Journal says happiness can quickly go viral within your social network.
Researchers looked at twenty years' worth of data on more than 5,000 individuals and found that when any one person was happy, their friends became more likely to share that joy. Benefits spread out to three degrees of separation, meaning a better chance at happiness for not only their friends' friends, but also their friends' friends' friends.
But don't go thinking your ten thousand buddies on Facebook will bring you happiness. The researchers found that the strength of the effect dissipates over physical distance, with next-door neighbors and friends living nearby getting the biggest boost. Surprisingly, sadness made very little headway within social networks, paling in comparison to the communal effects of happiness. Just in time for the holiday season, scientific proof that it's not the gift that counts—it’s the smile on the face of the friend giving it.
—Adam Hinterthuer
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9 Comments
Add CommentI really enjoyed this! The psychology of happiness has always been intriguing to me.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI concur. There is truly an "infectious" quality to an up personality. We see it daily and often do not recognize it's impact. I use it with my patients, especially the elderly. As we grow older, and death takes away dear friends, we become increasingly isolated. The elderly need to be kept "engaged" with the younger generation and supplied with a happier daily routine. A smile, a hugg and good conversation will never be distilled into a "pill." Human to human being is the Rx.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisJulius C. Butler MD.
Doesn't seem to hold true in some of these forums does it?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisi experience this situation that is true
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thissmile all smile with you, but cry nobody cry with you
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFor me, I have always been a very happy person. I have noticed that more people are drawn to me. I have been told that my smile is socially inviting. It is so good to know that I have something going for me.
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Hi Adam,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisruHap, The Happiness Company released yesterday the first-ever Facebook application designed to spread Happiness through social networks.
Based on the Framingham Heart Study research, users post whether they are Happy or not thus helping their friends be Happier, and their friends, and their friends too. ruHap collects the votes and publish a daily Happiness Index.
The Happiness app is linked to our free website which contains extensive Happiness Resources, a Daily Happiness Quote, a blog (How to be Happy) and much more. ruhap brings the leading academic Happiness research to users in small, fun, bite sized pieces.
Thank you very much, and Be Happy,
Gregory S. Barsh, Esq.
Chief Happiness Officer
ruHap, The Happiness Company
www.ruhap.com