Spending Time with Friends Key to Happiness, Study Finds

The longest study on happiness ever conducted has discovered something simple yet powerful: spending time with people you trust makes you happier than money, power, or career success.

The Harvard Study of Adult Development began tracking 724 people in Boston in 1938. Nearly nine decades later, the research shows one clear pattern. People with strong friendships and close relationships report more positive emotions and better well-being throughout their lives.

"You should have some people around you whom you feel you can trust. Not just your family, but also some friends," says Paal Fredrik Skjørten Kvarberg, a happiness researcher at the University of Oslo. He points to an interesting contrast: Latin American countries consistently rank higher than Nordic nations on surveys measuring daily positive emotions, despite having fewer economic resources.

The difference might be social connection. Countries like Panama, Paraguay, and Costa Rica top the Gallup Positive Experience Index, which measures whether people smiled, laughed, felt rested, and experienced joy yesterday.

But there's a concerning trend emerging. In Norway, time spent with friends among young adults dropped from 2 hours and 17 minutes daily in 1990 to just 1 hour in 2022. Among kids aged 9 to 15, the percentage who regularly spend time with peers fell from 80 percent in 2000 to just 40 percent in 2022.

Marc Schulz, a psychology professor who leads the Harvard study, presented these findings at a recent seminar in Oslo. His team has expanded the original study to include spouses, children, brain scans, and stress measurements. The conclusion remains consistent across generations.

"Much of the time people previously spent playing cards, having dinner together, or just hanging out, we now spend watching TV or playing video games," Kvarberg notes.

Why This Inspires

This research gives us permission to prioritize what actually makes us happy. While Norway ranks sixth in the World Happiness Report based on life satisfaction, researchers found people often associate those survey questions with money and power rather than positive emotions.

When asked what truly matters for a good life, most people value positive emotions and social relationships highly. They just don't always act on it.

The good news is that happiness from relationships is accessible to everyone, regardless of income or status. Seven out of ten people globally report experiencing positive emotions yesterday. In Norway, it's eight out of ten, showing that connection still matters even as screen time increases.

The path to more joy might be simpler than we think: call a friend, share a meal, or just hang out without phones.