Happiness is Contagious

December 8, 2008 by · 3 Comments
Filed under: About Happiness, Everyday Happiness, Practicing Happiness, Relationships 

This just in, from the bespectacled researchers at Harvard: Happiness is contagious.

OK, so we’ve known for a long time that moods and emotions spread to those around us.  What’s different about this study is that the researchers have been able to quantify the impact. And it’s not just about who you talk with daily. Neighbors whom you only see occasionally can impact your happiness. And happy people like to cluster: people on Facebook with smiling photos are more likely to be friends with other smilers. Interesting!

Read the full article here: Happiness is Contagious in Social Networks

and see the accompanying video clip from CNN here:

What’s the bottom line? If you hang around with happy people, you’ll feel (15%!) happier. If you are happy, others are more likely to want to hang around with you.

Cool!

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Comments

3 Responses to “Happiness is Contagious”
  1. Iyabo Asani says:
    09-Dec-08 at 10:39

    Great article. It is so wonderful when science starts backing up what we have known all along.

    I do concur that my experience of social networking certainly has increased my happiness and so I encourage my clients to engage in social networking in a meaningful way.

    Thanks

  2. Melanie Sklarz says:
    09-Dec-08 at 13:25

    What interested me the most about this article is that it mentions nothing of happiness at work.

    In fact, when I first saw this reported on NBC Nightly News they made mention of how the only place happiness didn’t spread was in the workplace but never explained why.

    Any thoughts – besides the obvious recent economy downturn explanation?

  3. jsmith says:
    10-Dec-08 at 22:44

    Melanie, part of the thing about workplace is that we tend not to allow ourselves to be as open and vulnerable at work as we do in our personal relationships.

    That said, there are other studies that look at happiness in the workplace, and we know that even in the workplace, happiness breeds positive environments and better work outcomes, while negative/toxic environments turn out an inferior bottom line relative to the great places to work.

    Thanks for your comments! J

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