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Do Your Part, Be Happy
This week, I posted my Facebook status as “Nicolette had a good day.” A few friends responded with comments and a client emailed me to tell me that it was just what she needed to lift her spirits. Then last evening, Berit of Articulated Impact posted her FB status as “listening to giggles from the other room.” Strangely, it made me happy to think of her at the Affinity Lab giggling!
With all the doom and gloom it the news, it may seem harder to find something to smile about, but a report out this week sheds some light on my Facebook findings.
Political scientist James Fowler of UC San Diego and sociologist Nicholas Christakis of Harvard Medical School set out to evaluate whether happiness can spread from person to person and whether niches of happiness form within social networks. They mapped out the social networks of 4,739 people and measured their happiness from 1983 to 2003 by asking how strongly four statements described them: “I felt hopeful about the future”; “I was happy”; “I enjoyed life”; and “I felt that I was just as good as other people.” Their results were reported in The Dynamic Spread of Happiness in a Large Social Network and published online in BMJ
In this week’s Lab Notes post Happiness is Contagious?, Sharon Begley of Newsweek explained the findings.
On average…for every one happy friend in your social network, your own chance of being happy rises by 9 percent. Every unhappy friend decreases your chance of being happy by 7 percent. Not surprisingly, the fewer degrees of separation between you and a happy person the stronger their influence on your own mood. Being friends with a happy person makes you 15 percent more likely to be happy; having a friend who is a friend of a happy person makes you 10 percent more likely to be happy, and having a friend whose friend’s friend is happy makes that 6 percent.
Something tells me Karen Salmansohn’s book - How to Be Happy, Dammit! — is going to be flying off the shelves this week!
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This is interesting information. I had no idea that logging onto social networking sites could have a direct effect on how I was feeling. It does make sense, though. Now that I think about, when my friends are feeling and doing good, I tend to feel better myself.
Excellent point made! This is something I have seen first hand in my own life. This can also be thought of in the reverse way: Our happiness can spread to others!
Very interesting! I liked the statistical information. This blog contains a lot of great information and links.
Hmmm... interesting! I like it!
Wow, interesting points. It is a very informative post. Social networks have become an integral part of our lives, and what better way than to spread happiness through them!! Thanks for sharing.
Excellent! I like the pay it forward notion.Thanks.
This is such an interesting study. I love the thoughts of how each of can have an effect on other people just by being happy ourselves. It truly makes me want to strive to be happier.
This is really great information! I had always thought that being happy tended to spread, but it's neat to see the scientific data on it. Have a great day! :)
Nice to see that statistics bear out my own experience and my grandma's old adage "You can get more flies with honey than vinegar". What's that have to do with it? Oh, that's right. If I'm happy or at least act like I am, the people I relate with will be happier too!
Excellent information. I have always heard yo surround yourself with good and happy things and people in order to be happy and all your statistics and your blog support that. Nice blog!
Great to see statistics to back up something so crucial to the human condition. Share a smile and it is amazing how far it can spread.
This also seems to explain why when I am happy good things seem to happen around me... Very informative... thanks
Thumbs up :), we need to make everyone realize the fact that to make this world a happier community, everyone needs to contribute, just do your own part, and believe me, its not too hard to make someone smile even if you are not feeling too good :) and a lot of smiling faces around you can make a lot of things easier for you.
Absolutely true. For years doctors have said thinking positive helped patients heal. If you smile at someone on the street they will usually smile back. You are a product of your environment (even if it is virtual). Happy is as happy does! :)
Well i guess it all comes down to the statement that says that you feel the way your environment feels. If you have happy friends, you'll feel happy, because you'll be surrounded with happiness, this obviously fires back if sorrounded by sad people.
Bottom line, be in a environment of joy to be joyful, and if you're not, try to change it.
It makes me happy to know that happiness can be contagious just like laughter. I think that people have more perception and sense than even we realize. Our ability to feed off of others energy and state of mind is amazing. I guess it holds true to assume that you are who you surround yourself with then. It definitly makes me think about my relationships, thanks.
This is SO true! I know if I really put forth an effort at work to be positive and happy, people flock to me and are smiling in no time. It truly is contagious. I also know that if a coworker or my partner are in a bad mood, it totally rubs off on me and can lead to a fight with my partner just from the negative feelings getting out of control. Love the title of that suggested reading. May have to check that out.
Great article. Positivity is such an important part of interaction with the world. I am very aware of when others are putting forth their best or looking for an excuse to whine about something. Just as happiness is contagious, so is negativity. If you want to have a good day, you need to start with your own attitude. Just writing about this topic is a great start. So one more question, if you don't feel it, should you fake it?
Wow, I never thought about that, but it does make sense! I too get all fuzzy inside when I find out somebody else is happy. On a bad day, my co-workers insanely addicting laughter from the office next door always cheers me up!
It's nice to know that smiling at someone can put a smile on their face. All of my life I've thrilled in being able to make people laugh. It's exhilarating! When someone is depressed I feel the need to talk to them and help them. There is always something to smile about and There is always someone to smile at.
Oh, wow...what does this mean for those of us who work in the midst of lots of unhappiness? Maybe I'll show this to my supervisor, and show her there is scientific data to support my goofing off on the Internet. :)
Great advice. Even if you couldn't make the people around you happy, you'll make yourself happy. Sometimes the only way to be happy is to decide to be.
What a great blog post!!! I totally believe in the pay it forward theory and just being plain nice. For example I had a really grouchy teller the other day. I told her I loved her blouse. She was all smiles. What a simple way to make her smile and make the next clients in her bank line have a happy teller. So easy, free and only takes a few seconds.
It is true when you are around happy people it makes you feel better.
Good article. I believe that happiness is a choice, and good happy friends can certainly help you stay that way!
Very true about how we're influenced by who we spend time with. Just listen sometime to someone talking on the phone. Though you hear only half of the conversation, you can get a good idea what the invisible person is like. Cheerfulness is contagious.
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