But a new report in the British Medical Journal, Dynamic spread of happiness in a large social network: longitudinal analysis over 20 years in the Framingham Heart Study, has been widely quoted:
Results Clusters of happy and unhappy people are visible in the network, and the relationship between people’s happiness extends up to three degrees of separation (for example, to the friends of one’s friends’ friends). People who are surrounded by many happy people and those who are central in the network are more likely to become happy in the future. Longitudinal statistical models suggest that clusters of happiness result from the spread of happiness and not just a tendency for people to associate with similar individuals. A friend who lives within a mile and who becomes happy increases the probability that a person is happy by 25%. Similar effects are seen in coresident spouses (siblings who live within a mile, and next door neighbours. Effects are not seen between coworkers. The effect decays with time and with geographical separation.
Conclusions People’s happiness depends on the happiness of others with whom they are connected. This provides further justification for seeing happiness, like health, as a collective phenomenon.
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