Turns out, misery may not love company — but happiness does, research suggests.
A new study by researchers at Harvard University and the University of California, San Diego documents how happiness spreads through social networks.
They found that when a person becomes happy, a friend living close by has a 25 percent higher chance of becoming happy themselves. A spouse experiences an 8 percent increased chance and for next-door neighbors, it’s 34 percent.
“Everyday interactions we have with other people are definitely contagious, in terms of happiness,” says Nicholas Christakis, a professor at Harvard Medical School and an author of the study.
Perhaps more surprising, Christakis says, is that the effect extends beyond the people we come into contact with. When one person becomes happy, the social network effect can spread up to 3 degrees — reaching friends of friends.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Happiness is contagious
Science News
- Odd Volcano's Black Ooze Explained The volcano sits in the Great Rift Valley.
- Can You Have Bones Like Wolverine's? New material is stronger than steel.
- Cave Painting Depicts Extinct Marsupial Lion Cave painting offers a glimpse of the animal's external appearance.
- 5 Scientific Reasons Mom Deserves Mother's Day Consider what follows the only motivation you should need to pamper Mom.
- Losing Your Job Can Make You Sick Getting fired or laid off can lead to health problems, even if you find a new job.
America's most miserable sports cities
Fans in these towns have suffered the most painful losses over the past year — and not just in terms of games.Most miserable sports cities
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Are broken CFLs really dangerous?
See how much mercury you're exposed to when you break a compact fluorescent light bulb.Dangerous?
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School orders student to skip prom
A Christian school threatens to suspend a student — and bar him from going to his own graduation — if he attends his girlfriend's prom.School orders student to skip prom
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Singing in the rain
Kansas Teen Offers Sister For Sale on Craigslist
The teenager who jokingly tried to sell her four-year-old sister on Craigslist, that's a different story.
"Cahier's Check" Gets Man Arrested
In this case: learn to spell!
Counterfeit cashier's checks ended up getting a man arrested for forgery.
How did the victims know the checks were forged?
They knew they were counterfeit because the word "cashier’s" was spelled “cahier’s.”
Polar bear decision dismays environmentalists
shrub-era limits on protecting the iconic bear won't be rescinded by the new administration.Polar bear decision
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Drought reveals ancient fossils
Worst gifts for Mother's Day
A Snuggie or a fitness DVD may land you in the doghouse, but one thing takes the cake.Worst gifts
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Take a bite out of the blues with something crunchy.Science and Health News
Volcanic shutdown may have led to 'snowball Earth'
Early in our planet's history, volcanoes stopped spewing out lava for around 250 million years, leaving Earth in almost perpetual winter Brazil's other big forest in dire straits
Often obscured by the glare of publicity that surrounds the Amazon rainforest, the Atlantic forest is a biodiversity hotspot – and it's in very bad shape Medieval-style 'rack' stretches skin grafts
Slivers of skin have been stretched to twice their size in a week using a robotic device that is akin to an ancient instrument of torture
Solar cycle will be weakest since 1928, forecasters say
The sun's new solar cycle will be the mildest in decades, a panel of experts predicts – but the panel's vote was not unanimous Innovation: Computers to keep our emotions in check
We're used to software spotting mistakes in our spelling and grammar – but soon word processors may be advising us on our writing's emotional content too
Warm weather may not halt swine flu
If the spread of H1N1 influenza continues elsewhere as it has in the Americas, the virus could infect more than a billion people by July
Sunspot cycle on the rise, could vex gadgets
Your cell phone, radio, and GPS may be affected as the Earth enters a busier time for solar storms.Sunspot cycle on the rise
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Saturday Jam
All you need is Love
If I fell
I've just seen a face
All my loving
It won't be long
President Obama's Weekly Address
Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
Washington, D.C.
Good morning. I want to briefly share some news about our economy, and talk about the work that we’re doing both to protect American consumers, and to put our economy back on a path to growth and prosperity.
This week, we saw some signs that the gears of America’s economic engine are slowly beginning to turn. Consumer spending and home sales are stabilizing. Unemployment claims are dropping and job losses are beginning to slow. But these trends are far from satisfactory. The unemployment rate is at its highest point in twenty-five years. We are still in the midst of a deep recession that was years in the making, and it will take time to fully turn this economy around.
We cannot rest until our work is done. Not when Americans continue to lose their jobs and struggle to pay their bills. Not when we are wrestling with record deficits and an over-burdened middle class. That is why every action that my Administration is taking is focused on clearing away the wreckage of this recession, and building a new foundation for job-creation and long-term growth.
This past week, we acted on several fronts. To restart the flow of credit that businesses and individuals depend upon, we completed an unprecedented review of the condition of our nation’s largest banks to determine what additional steps are necessary to get our economy moving. To restore fiscal discipline, we identified 121 programs to eliminate from our budget. And to restore a sense of fairness to our tax code and common sense to our economy, I have asked Congress to work with me in closing the loopholes that let companies ship jobs and stash profits overseas – reforms will help save $210 billion over the next ten years.
These important steps are just one part of a broad effort to get government, businesses and banks to act more responsibly, so that we are creating good jobs and making sound investments instead of spending recklessly and padding false profits. Because American institutions must act with the same sense of responsibility and fairness that the American people aspire to in their own lives.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in our credit card industry. Americans know that they have a responsibility to live within their means and pay what they owe. But they also have a right to not get ripped off by the sudden rate hikes, unfair penalties, and hidden fees that have become all-too common in our credit card industry. You shouldn’t have to fear that any new credit card is going to come with strings attached, nor should you need a magnifying glass and a reference book to read a credit card application. And the abuses in our credit card industry have only multiplied in the midst of this recession, when Americans can least afford to bear an extra burden.
It is past time for rules that are fair and transparent. That is why I have called for a set of new principles to reform our credit card industry. Instead of an "anything goes" approach, we need strong and reliable protections for consumers. Instead of fine print that hides the truth, we need credit card forms and statements that have plain language in plain sight, and we need to give people the tools they need to find a credit card that meets their needs. And instead of abuse that goes unpunished, we need to strengthen monitoring, enforcement, and penalties for credit card companies that take advantage of ordinary Americans.
The House has taken important steps toward putting these principles into law, and the Senate is poised to do the same next week. Now, I’m calling on Congress to take final action to pass a credit card reform bill that protects American consumers so that I can sign it into law by Memorial Day. There is no time for delay. We need a durable and successful flow of credit in our economy, but we can’t tolerate profits that depend upon misleading working families. Those days are over.
This economic crisis has reminded us that we are all in this together. We can’t prosper by putting off hard choices, or by protecting the profits of the few at the expense of the middle class. We are making steady progress toward recovery, but we must ensure that the legacy of this recession is an American economy that rewards work and innovation; that is guided by fairness and responsibility; and that grows steadily into the future.
Thanks.
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Daily Horoscope
It isn't hard to hold on to your idealistic attitude when you have great people behind you, supporting every step you take.
It's when you're stuck with negative people who love to complain that you start to get pessimistic about where things are going.
So make sure you're hanging out with positive forces, people who know how to keep you focused and on track.
Stick with the folks who aren't interested in tearing you down to make themselves feel better.
Negative people are so negative all right.
