Everyone knows misery loves company, but a new study shows that happiness craves an audience as well. And in this case, there are rewards.
Researchers find that sharing good news amplifies its positive benefits, above and beyond the pleasure that comes from reliving the event and the social interaction itself. The boost is so powerful, in fact, that individuals who impart uplifting news to another person at least twice a week report greater life satisfaction than those who simply journal their good news with the same frequency.
The hitch, however, is that not just any company will do: the listener must be someone who responds in an enthusiastic and supportive way.
“You have to be careful – especially in our society, when bragging can be looked down on,” says lead author Nathaniel Lambert, noting the importance of a confidante who will reciprocate happiness. “Most people don’t want to hear about your financial success, for example.”
The findings of the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships paper bear out across five studies, which ultimately show a cause-and-effect relationship between sharing positive news and increased happiness.
The researchers applied strict controls in order to prove causation, demonstrating that the benefits go above and beyond potentially confounding factors, such as social stimulation and reliving the event.
Lambert, an assistant professor of family science at Brigham Young University in Utah, reports that happiness boosts came directly after sharing good news with a supportive other, as well as over a four-week period in which good news was shared at least twice a week with a supportive other. It also trumped any emotional rewards that came from simply writing down uplifting experiences.
“Gratitude journals have been shown to have all kinds of positive effects. But we find that taking the extra step of sharing a great experience with someone else gives an added benefit,” says Lambert. “It’s a little thing but it goes a long way if you do it right.”
Lambert hopes people will not only see the study as license to share, but also as encouragement to be supportive of their friends’ successes.
“When you show others that you’re a safe person to share their good news with, you make a huge deposit in their emotional bank account,” says Lambert. “Being an active, constructive listener is one of the least utilized, least-taught skills there is.”
Lambert’s co-author, Frank Fincham, believes the effect is particularly useful because it doesn’t require an active pursuit.
“If you seek happiness, it can become very elusive, whereas if you naturally share the good things in your life, happiness will follow,” explains Fincham, eminent scholar at Florida State University. “The problem is that we tend to share what’s going on badly in our lives, not capitalizing on sharing the positive.”
Though he confesses it “isn’t rocket science,” he doesn’t believe the study’s conclusions are any less important or relevant to people’s lives.
“Sometimes the most obvious things are the things we forget about or don’t investigate,” says Fincham. “Forget this at your own peril, because here is something that can really enhance your life satisfaction.”
