Happiness is Contagious
It appears that we’re in the middle of some pretty gloomy times this holiday season. But, here’s one way you can help — be happy!
Here’s why: A 20-year study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation examined the relationship between social networks and happiness. Researchers found that happiness is not the result of a cloistered journey filled with individually tailored self-help techniques. It is a collective phenomenon that spreads through social networks like an emotional contagion.
That means when one person becomes happy, it triggers a chain reaction that benefits not only his/her friends, but also their friend’s friends, and their friend’s friend’s friends. And although all people are roughly separated by six degrees from one another, their ability to influence others appears to only stretch to three degrees. The closer a friend lives, the stronger the emotional feeling spreads.
Obviously, being happy isn’t going to solve the problems in our world right now. But, hey, it might just make someone else feel a little bit better. Happy Holidays, all!