Feeling down? Chat to a STRANGER! People who talk to unfamiliar individuals as well as friends and family are happiest, study suggests
- Researchers calculated the ‘social portfolio’ of more than 50,000 people
- Those who interacted with a wider range of people reported greater wellbeing
- Speaking to a broader range of people was more important for wellbeing than the time spent on each interaction, or the total number of interactions
You might think it’s enough to have a good group of family and friends around you.
But it’s also important to chat to strangers on your commute and co-workers in the office, a study suggests.
Researchers have discovered that people with a diverse set of relationship types are happier than those who don’t try to branch out.
You might think it’s enough to have a good group of family and friends around you. But it’s also important to chat to strangers on your commute (stock image) and co-workers in the office, a study suggests
A team from Harvard University calculated the ‘social portfolio’ of more than 50,000 people from eight countries.
Analysis showed those who interacted with a wider range of people reported greater wellbeing, life satisfaction and quality of life.
Speaking to a broader range of people was more important for wellbeing than the time spent on each interaction, or the total number of interactions, they found.
And having a diverse social portfolio was an even better predictor of happiness than being married, they discovered.
The authors said: ‘Different types of social support – for example emotional, instrumental, financial and informational – tend to be provided by different social relations, for example your partner, immediate kin, friends or colleagues.
‘Diversity in social portfolios may be associated with greater access to different types of social support, resulting in enhanced well-being.’
Previous research has shown people who interact with strangers are just as happy as those who interact with a romantic partner.
Writing in the journal PNAS, the researchers said: ‘In fact, recent work suggests that individuals discuss important topics with their weak ties more often than traditional network theory would predict – especially in one-on-one conversation when relational stakes are lower.
Researchers have discovered that people with a diverse set of relationship types are happier than those who don’t try to branch out (stock image)
‘At the network level, weak ties play a critical role in bolstering one’s network, by serving as bridges that provide access to information and resources.
‘People’s time is scarce, such that increasing the number of frequency of social interactions can prove challenging.
‘Our results suggest that a more relationally diverse social portfolio may offer a time-neutral means of shaping wellbeing.’
Previous research revealed 27 per cent of Londoners would feel uncomfortable if a stranger started talking to them.
This is almost twice as high as in the North, where just 15 per cent of people said they would feel uncomfortable.