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Experts gathered 600 years worth of global happiness research and found one simple habit that could be the secret to a happy life.
Happiness comes down to a combination of factors, but what seemed to stand out in the vast amounts of research was spending more time with loved ones.
Just having one person you can count on could have significant impacts on your mental wellbeing, the experts said, adding that they themselves make a conscious effort to prioritize time with their loved ones after seeing the notable impact relationships have on happiness in their research.
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The findings were published in the Journal of Happiness Studies in August.
"The quality of our social connections is perhaps the single most underrated driver of our mental wellbeing, and yet they are absolutely critical for wellbeing across the life course," Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, director of the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, who was one of six editors of the World Happiness Report, though not involved in the publication of this paper, told Newsweek.
He said that these results "echo what we find each year in the World Happiness Report; levels of social support, trust, and having people to rely on are the factors which make a huge difference when explaining differences in wellbeing at both an individual and population level."
"This is one of the most important findings of wellbeing science," Lord Richard Layard, co-Director of the Well-Being Program at the London School of Economics, told Newsweek. "As Aristotle said 'Humans are social animals'."
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What 600 Years Of Global Happiness Research Revealed
In a Zoom call, around a dozen international experts in wellbeing science discussed the trends that appeared across the 600 years of happiness research.
Relationships emerged as "one of the most reliable predictors of happiness," Lara Aknin, a professor of social psychology at Simon Fraser University who co-authored the paper, said in the talk.
"We know that having just one person you can count on is extremely consequential. Having more relationships and more communities that you feel a part of compounds that sense of well-being," she said.
Other key patterns which emerged included that, while financial security was a strong foundation for wellbeing, additional income on top of basic needs did not have as much of an impact on overall happiness.
They noticed that those who did work and activities that aligned with their values were also happier, as were those who adopted intentional habits like expressing gratitude, savoring positive experiences, listening more deeply, volunteering and being more socially engaged.
In fact, they found that one's circumstances - so where a person lives, their age, their relationship status - only account for around 10 percent of overall happiness. Meanwhile, around 40 percent of a person's happiness appeared to come from how they chose to spend their time.
“That leaves a lot of opportunity for people who may be more innately pessimistic to start practicing research-backed strategies like meditation or gratitude that might help them see the world in a more positive way,” Aknin said.
The experts also emphasized that wellbeing is not about feeling happy all of the time, but more about shaping lives around values, strengths, and relationships, while also being able to adapt to change and new challenges.
Why Time With Loved Ones Is So Important For Happiness
De Neve said that in his own research, where the team looked at the relationship between wellbeing and the simple act of sharing a meal, they found that people who shared at least one meal with other people reported higher happiness, lower stress, less sadness, and lower levels of pain.
"This held true across all countries and cultures which we studied," he said. "Humans are social beings: connecting with other people is an essential factor for a happy and healthy life."
He said that even "the most fleeting of social connections – like a brief interaction with a stranger, or the mundane act of sharing a meal – appears to measurably impact our wellbeing for the better."
Layard said that "we get our sense of ourselves from how other people react to us," explaining that relationships can therefore have profound impacts on physical and mental health.
Gail Kinman, a professor of occupational health psychology at Birkbeck, University of London, told Newsweek that "social connections are crucial for mental and physical health," as they provide "emotional and practical support, foster a sense of belonging and help protect us from the damaging effects of stress and negative life events."
She also said that research has indicated an association between "supportive relationships and longer life expectancy."
"Loneliness is one of the main sicknesses of our age," Layard said. "It has been made much worse by social media and working from home. We have to reverse both these phenomena."
"Anything we can do to nurture face-to-face interactions is worthwhile," De Neve said.
Reference
Stenlund, S., O’Connor, K.J. and Aknin, L. (2026) Reflections on the Past, Present, and Future of Well-Being Science from Several of Its Pioneers. Journal of Happiness Studies. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-026-01092-6
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Marc Vargas and Liz Perkins
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