happiness and social networks

Cultivate happiness in yourself; expose yourself to happiness from others.

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RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—Not everything that’s contagious is bad for you. Researchers from Harvard and the University of California have found that happiness can be passed on from one person to another, and can spread by up to three degrees. That means it’s not just your own friends who make you feel happy: A happy vibe that affects you may have started with their friends, or their friends’ friends. The social networking study was first published online and will appear in the British Medical Journal.

THE DETAILS: Researchers found not only that happiness is contagious and spreads like wildfire through social networks, but that it spreads much faster than sadness. They used data from 5,000 people whose moods were tracked for 20 years as part of the Framingham Heart Study to find more than 50,000 social ties within the group. Friends and mutual friends living nearby, as well as next-door neighbors, had the greatest power in spreading happiness, even more so than one’s spouse. Friends who lived within a mile and became happy had a 25% probability of passing their mood onto others; their influence could last up to a year. “We’ve found that your emotional state may depend on the emotional experiences of people you don’t even know, who are two to three degrees removed from you,” says study coauthor Nicholas Christakis, MD, PhD, professor of sociology at Harvard. “And the effect isn’t just a fleeting one.”

WHAT IT MEANS: This is the first study to show the indirect spread of happiness. The authors’ previous studies found that behaviors like smoking cessation and obesity also spread through social networks—but this research shows that emotions are contagious, too.

Here are some ways to generate happiness within yourself—and start a happy epidemic that can spread to friends and neighbors.

• Treat yourselves to intangibles. Find the little things that make you happy, and do them, says study coauthor James Fowler, PhD, associate professor of political science at University of California, San Diego. If that seems self-indulgent, remember you’re not just making yourself smile. “I would tell people to take time to do little things for themselves,” Fowler says. “When I play my favorite song before coming home from work, I’m not just making myself happier, but also my son and his friend and maybe even my son’s friend’s mom. Little things can make a difference.”

• Favor people over cash and stuff. Being in the presence of friends and others gives them a chance to make you feel happier. And it seems to be a stronger effect than money or material wealth. “We found that $5,000 in extra annual income only increases the likelihood of happiness by 2%,” Fowler says. “Compare that with the 6% increase of happiness you can get when your friend’s friend’s friend becomes happy, and it’s easy to see that friends, even remote ones, are more important than money.”

• Compare downward. If you’re always comparing your situation to some idealized, perfect scenario, you’re asking to feel deprived. Looking downward instead—making a reality check against how much worse things could be—can help you appreciate what you have.

• Fake it. That’s right: Putting on a happy face—even if you don't feel like it—actually induces greater happiness, studies show. And whatever you do, don’t suppress happiness when you feel it. Don’t be afraid to smile at yourself in the mirror.