Yes, great news just in is that, like colds, happiness is catching.  Interestingly, it’s not just your immediate circle of family and friends that you can ‘infect’, and who can ‘infect’ you, but also your friends of friends.

US research reported in the British Medical Journal has found that cohabitees who become happy increase the likelihood of their partner becoming happy by 8%. The likelihood of siblings who live near by becoming happy is increased by 14% and neighbours by 34%. The article doesn’t explain why neighbours (who persumably know you less well) are more likely to become happy than your loved-ones (who presumably do), or why work-colleagues seem to be exempt -  If anyone knows the answer let me know!

Also of interest is that physical proximity matters – it seems that the closer you live to your happy friends the better. And, as we already know, happiness does indeed lead to better physical health.

Maybe social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace could include an application which enables you to make friends with happy people, or track down the nearest ones so that you could pay them a visit for a quick “happiness boost”.

….On the downside, presumably unhappiness is also catching?….

Reference: Fowler, J.H. & Christakis, N.A. (2008). Dynamic spread of happiness in a large social network:longitudinal nalaysis of the Framlington Heart Study social network. BMJ 337:a2338.

Thanks to Janice Mount for the BMJ article

Image: Mussels