Duh. We’ve been saying that for years but now we’ve got proof. It’s also nice when science gives us permission to do what comes naturally.
Mark Twain said, “There are people who can do all fine and heroic things but one – keep from telling their happiness to the unhappy.” I wonder, is that really such a bad thing?
Our friends at the Well Being Wire (a subsidiary of Healthways) recently pointed us to a Harvard study where researchers actually used an infectious disease model to see how emotions might spread from person to person — a novel approach that makes perfect sense given our social nature.
Real, in-person social networks (I’m not talking Facebook et. al.) transmit all sorts of things. Disease, of course is one (think colds and flu), behavioral norms another (think fashion trends). But what about the spread of happiness? How powerful is it and can we use the avenue of infection for good against evil here?
Yes indeed we can! Happiness truly is a social contagion, Mr. Twain, according to Harvard:
Each encounter with “content” emotions in a personal relationship increases your own chances of feeling fully content by 11%. Further, each infection of happiness lingers long after the experience! Wow.
The lingering impact tells us that while infection has to happen through social contact, recovery (so to speak) does not. That implies the infection’s impact is akin to being taught a “life skill that can persist without a constant stimulus.”
It’s like osmosis! You don’t even have to read the Cliff Notes. Just show up, enjoy someone’s company, become infused with his or her joy and you too shall be joyful. And then so too will your other social connections. Like the famous shampoo ad of the 80’s, you’ll tell two friends, and they’ll tell two friends, and so on.
Sweet.
Beware, though. We also learned that it’s even easier to spread discontent. One encounter makes it 100% likely that you too will feel discontent. The good news is that a discontent infection last only half as a long as a happiness infection.
Why? One reason: people who are content and people who become infected with contentment tend to cluster. By contrast, people who are infected by discontent tend to isolate. That’s a good mechanism when it comes to avoiding other malcontents but bad in terms of reversing the effects or in trying to re-infuse the sad with contentment.
Of course, we didn’t really need a study to tell us this, but the reminder and the solid evidence are inspiring – infused with contentment for sure. It reminds me to say “no” when bickering or backstabbing or bogus blues seep into my day.
“Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.” ~ Dalai Lama
Honestly, I know you’ve been thinking about that one person in your world who is a drag to be around; a persistent Eeyore personality – you know who I’m talking about, you conjured him or her as you were reading this. As his or her good friend, you now have the power to say, “Cheer up. For your health and mine, please cheer up. How can I help you do so?”
By contrast, I bet you also conjured that person who walks into a room and lights it up — content to the full extent of the law. Imagine your world filled with several of those people. Imagine their collective power to inadvertently shift Eeyore’s angst. It’s possible and it happens.
Dump the discontent and jump on the joy wagon. As the study shows, a little bit goes a long way and lasts a lifetime. Build happy infection upon happy infection and the discontent may just dwindle to a faint memory.
Pass the good infections on, as we see you on the PATH Ahead…