Is Happiness Viral?

We know videos can go viral. Other people can catch a sickness or a cold from you. Recent research by Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler found that happiness can be viral too. Above is a picture of a social network of people. The circles represent females, the squares represent males and the lines between them indicate relationships. Colors of the circles or squares show the average happiness of a person and all of his or her social relations. The lighter the square or circle, the happier the person. Here is a link to the NY Times picture. Ewen Callaway at New Scientist has a graph shown following this link that nicely displays how a happy friend, coworker, or spouse would affect your happiness. The graph also displays how the distance you live with a friend will affect your happiness. As one might expect, a happy friend that lives closer is much more likely to make you happy.  In fact, a friend with three degrees of separation can increase your happiness by 6%!

It’s truly amazing what friends can do for you or friends or friends of friends in some cases! In fact, James Fowler, a professor at UC San Diego states that “Even people we don’t know and have never met have bigger effect on our mood than substantial increases in income.”

Below is a video provided by CNN that gives illustrates the point that happiness is indeed viral.

What Determines Happiness?
Bad Medicine is What You Need
5 Ways to Soften the Financial Impact of the Holidays
Frugalicious?
10 Reasons Why I Want You to Be Financially Independent

Friends Quit Smoking? You Probably Will Too by MSN
James Fowler Home Page
Your Happiness Could Be Contagious by MSN
Find Yourself Packing It On? Blame Friends by NY Times
Viral Happiness

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