Don't Worry, Be Happy

Well, we could all use some good news I guess:

Happiness ripples well beyond a person's inner circle of friends and family, lifting the mood of an extended network of social contacts who might even be strangers, according to a provocative study published today.

Psychologists have long known that feelings can be contagious over short time frames or that people reflexively return smiles. But the new social network analysis showed that that contagious effect extends three "degrees" - as far as a friend of a friend of a friend - and drops off with time and distance.


The effects can last a year, researchers said in British Medical Journal.


"Your happiness is not just about your own choices and actions and behaviors and thoughts," said Dr. Nicholas Christakis, a coauthor of the study and a professor of medical sociology at Harvard Medical School. "It's like there are emotional stampedes that ripple across this infinite fabric of humanity."


Scientists have looked at factors such as lottery windfalls, genes, exercise, church attendance, political elections, and divorce in the quest to understand happiness. But this new study merely looks around - at spouses, coworkers, siblings, neighbors, and friends. Using comprehensive data collected on 4,739 people over two decades, the researchers studied individuals' levels of happiness and their social relationships.

So go out there and find your happy friends!