Spread the happiness!

by Tracy Hanify — last modified Sep 23, 2009 02:02 PM

Happiness can spread from person to person, say researchers in the US who evaluated the social networks of nearly 5000 people.

They found the relationship between people’s happiness extends up to three degrees of separation, for example, to the friends of your friends’ friends. People who are surrounded by many happy people are more likely to become happy in the future. They believe ‘clusters of happiness’ are not just a tendency for people to associate with similar individuals. And while researchers concluded people’s happiness is influenced by the happiness of others around them, they don’t suggest dumping friends going through a tough patch!

Source: British Medical Journal, December 2008

First published June 2009