Living as a family makes us happier, according to Harvard
The pursuit of happiness it is, from time immemorial, the goal of life. At present, some surveys of groups of young people based happiness on fame and wealth, but a study by the prestigious Harvard University, that began to develop in 1938, has revealed that the better indicator of happiness in the long term are the relationships with your family, with your friends and with your partner.
In short, living in a family is one of the most important indicators of happiness for people.
This is one of the most important findings of the study Harvard Study of Adult Development, about happiness, a research project that since 1938 has followed and closely examined the lives of more than 700 men, and in some cases of their partners. The objective of the study was to investigate the factors that determine if a person will grow old in a happy and healthy way, or if they will fall into mental illness or debilitation, something that apparently has a lot to do with loneliness.
A conference that summarizes 75 years of study on happiness
The current director of the study, Robert Waldinger, has summarized the most impressive results of this long project in a TED conference, which you can see in this video. Waldinger analyzes the conclusions of this study, carried out for more than 75 years, among which is the relationship that exists between stable families and happiness.
When Waldinger took office in 2003 he extended the study to focus on the wives and children of the 700 men who were being studied, recording couples in their homes, to study their interaction and interview them separately about every aspect of their lives, including the quarrels of the day to day.
"Over and over again in these 75 years," says Dr. Waldinger, "our study has shown that the people who are doing better are those who rely on relationships with their family, friends and with the community. "
Good family relationships protect against diseases
And it is that as the investigation progressed, the scientists verified that the factors that positively influenced health and well-being were the relationships with friends, mainly with the couple. In fact, people with closer social relationships were free of chronic and mental illnesses, and they hardly had memory losses, although these relationships had several ups and downs.
In fact, the ups and downs in family and social relationships do not have a negative influence on happiness. In this sense, Waldinger acknowledges that "those good relationships do not have to be easy all the time." Some of our partners, who are in their eighties, may be fighting all day long, but whenever they felt they could trust the other when things got difficult, those discussions did not cause havoc in his memory. "
Friends, source of happiness
In relationships outside the home, with friends, something similar happens. Study participants who struggled to replace their old co-workers with new friends after retirement were healthier and happier than those who put less effort into maintaining their social circles when they stopped working.
The state of health also influences the creation of social relationships and therefore, influences happiness. And it is easier for healthy and happy people to maintain and create strong social relationships, that this happens when you are sick. "The patients are gradually isolated socially or end up in bad relationships," says Waldinger.
The study notes that after following these people for many decades and comparing the state of their health and relationships from the beginning, strong social ties are the cause of long-term health and well-being.
Among the recommendations of Waldinger to achieve happiness highlights to start doing the following: "something as simple as replacing the time we spend before a screen with time to live, or relive a boring relationship with a common activity, such as going for a walk or go out together, get in touch with that family member you almost do not talk to, because those family disputes that are so common often affect those who are resentful. "
Marisol Nuevo Espín
More information in the book: The 7 habits of highly effective families, by Stephen Covey.
