Do Friends Make Us Happier, Kinder, Stronger, and More Successful?
The unsung powers of friendship: 7 studies
Friends are underrated. It is romantic relationships that are valued and celebrated. They have co-opted the word “relationship,” a great big word that should encompass much more than just coupledom. They get all the privilege — the respect, the recognition, the celebration. If romantic relationships turn into marriage, they get much more, including more than 1,000 legal benefits and protections.
Meanwhile, scrappy friendships get by on their own. They don’t lean on the crutch of sexual attraction. They are not boosted by legal benefits or protections.
And yet, there they are, enhancing our lives.
I’ve curated a small sampling of research findings illustrating ways in which our friends may make us better, stronger, happier, less timid, and more successful. As you will see, sometimes our friends do not even need to be present in order for them to enhance our lives — just thinking about them will do the trick.
- We may be happiest when we are with our friends. In a study published in the prestigious journal Science, Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman and his colleagues asked 909 adults to indicate who they were with the day before and how they felt during each of their interactions…
