Converse Deeply to Increase Happiness

It's been a while since I was in college. One of the things I miss most from those years was the opportunity to hang out with a bunch of people and have meaningful discussions. This was especially true in the dorms, when I knew at least 75 percent of the people on my floor and we all had a lot of free times on our hands. Of course, we were all learning new things on a daily basis, and we wanted to discuss what we were learning with others. And, as it turns out, it probably made us happier.

According to an article at TopNews, researchers found that the types of conversations people have actually affected their level of happiness. Starting with Simine Vazire at Washington University, followed by Matthias R Mehl, Shannon E Holleran and C Shelby Clark at the University of Arizona, these researchers studied the types of discussions people have, among the happy and the unhappy. The study participants had their conversations with other people recorded for four days.

The findings, according to Psychological Science, were that "the happiest participants had twice as many substantive conversations and one third as much small talk as the unhappiest participants." Other findings in the same study mention that happier people spend less time alone and more time talking than those who aren't happy.

So, if you want to be happy, it's time to spend more time with others and discuss the deeper things in life. Not sure what to talk about? I'll offer this as a jumping-off point.

Photo by BeverlyLR via stock.xchng.