By Robert L. Mues   |   July 13th, 2019
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New Data Confirms Findings From 2010 Social Interations Study

social interactions happinessA prominent 2010 study involving the correlation between social interactions and happiness done by Matthias Mehl, Simine Vazire, Shannon Holleran, and Shelby Clark has recently been updated and redone. These same individuals repeated this social interactions study with a broader group of participants including cancer patients, healthy folks  as well as with people who were recently divorced. The results were published in the September 2018 issue of Psychological Science

We are all social creatures. Interaction with others is generally necessary in our society. These 2 studies investigated these engagements with others as well as what kinds of social interactions make people happy. Is having superficial relationships or casual conversations enough to positively move the “happiness meter”?  Is it enough just to be around others and to have casual conversations? Or, is it important to be engaged in deep and meaningful conversations? Did only the “extraverts” react positively to the social interaction?

The Connection Between Social Interaction And Happiness Confirmed

The researchers factored personality measures into this study. Somewhat surprisingly, the results between the “extraverts” and the “introverts” didn’t vary. All participants generally reacted similarly: the greater the interaction the greater the sense of happiness and well-being.

This new study confirmed most of the findings from the 2010 social interations study – essentially that the more often the participants were around other people and having social interactions of some sort, the greater their sense of happiness and well-being. To read more of the social interactions study, click here.

Social Interactions Help Your Move Forward Emotionally

As a longtime divorce lawyer, I understand the transitions and often the grieving process many individuals go through after experiencing a divorce. Support groups, therapists, friends and family members play an important role in helping recent divorcees move forward emotionally.

It looks like Bruce Springsteen nailed it with the lyrics in his song Human Touch – “I just want someone to talk to and a little of that human touch”…

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[NEW STUDY] The Correlation between Social Interaction and Happiness

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