The “Your happiness could be contagious” story was all over the news yesterday, but it makes much more of an impression when it’s accompanied by file footage of happy people, as in last night’s NBC Nightly News story, embedded above.
[James] Fowler and [Nicholas A.] Christakis found that the increase in happiness only affects friends who live within a mile away from each other. “For emotions, it appears that distance is really important,” Fowler says. “Friends who are close have an affect [sic]; friends who are far away don’t. The less you’re in contact with somebody the less likely you are to catch their happiness.”
I’m not sure how this figures in, but while I have been writing this post, my next-door neighbor Joe has taken his snow-thrower for a couple of passes over my front walk. Even though he’s not visibly smiling, he’s definitely had the effect of making me happier.