Happiness is infectious

The graph shows the largest component of friends, spouses and siblings in 2000. Circles are females, squares are males and the lines between them indicate relationships (black for siblings, red for friends and spouses). Colors show the average happiness of a person and all of his or her social relations, with blue for sad, yellow for happy and shades of green for inbetween. Credit: James Fowler, UC San Diego

Happiness is infectious from PhysOrg.com

If you're happy and you know it, thank your friends—and their friends. And while you're at it, their friends' friends. But if you're sad, hold the blame. Researchers from Harvard Medical School and the University of California, San Diego have found that "happiness" is not the result solely of a cloistered journey filled with individually tailored self-help techniques. Happiness is also a collective phenomenon that spreads through social networks like an emotional contagion.

Source: Harvard Medical School

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