Althouse: "The clearest message that we get from this 75-year study is this: Good relationships keep us happier and healthier. Period."

April 21, 2017

"The clearest message that we get from this 75-year study is this: Good relationships keep us happier and healthier. Period."

"It's not just the number of friends you have, and it's not whether or not you're in a committed relationship. It's the quality of your close relationships that matters."

22 comments:

traditionalguy said...: Yes, that is the answer to stress: A support system that does not plan to betray you. Also called Christians.; 4/21/17, 10:15 AM
khesanh0802 said...: Pass the joint, Martha.; 4/21/17, 10:18 AM
320Busdriver said...: I thought it was all about how many facebook friends you have and how many "likes".

Back to the drawing board.; 4/21/17, 10:18 AM
David Baker said...: Now they tell us.; 4/21/17, 10:21 AM
Michael K said...: We are conducting an interesting social experiment by reducing the size of the family and reducing the interaction of children with adults. Watching a child spend hours looking at their iPhone instead of the family around them gives some indication of this.

Maybe we are seeing some preliminary results at Middlebury college and Yale.; 4/21/17, 10:24 AM
Fernandinande said...: "It's not just the number of friends you have, and it's not whether or not you're in a committed relationship. It's the " amount of money they have.; 4/21/17, 10:38 AM
rhhardin said...: A play for pay job you can keep up after retiring.; 4/21/17, 10:45 AM
Trumpit said...: "It is better to be alone than in bad company.” -George Washington

I would add that it is better to be with animals, e.g., dogs and cats, than to be alone.; 4/21/17, 10:56 AM
buwaya said...: Now people will stress out about the quality of their relationships, there will be one-upmanship (or mostly up-womanship) and various marketing opportunities in assisting in the display thereof.
Wait, isnt that already going on?; 4/21/17, 10:57 AM
Saint Croix said...: Link's not working for me, so not sure if the Ted talk is included.

If not, here you go; 4/21/17, 11:10 AM
Richard Dolan said...: The conclusion seems completely obvious, and has been a key message of religions the world over for millennia. The trick is how to create and nurture the relationships that will support you through adulthood till you die. That has a material aspect - grinding poverty or constant worry about one's position in the work economy make it had to achieve. Same with poor health, addiction and a host of other physical problems.

So, while it's true that a 401(k) account or a stable job are not in themselves a ticket to health or happiness, having them makes both easier to achieve and maintain. Charles Murray and others have been writing about all of that for a while now, from every conceivable perspective.; 4/21/17, 11:36 AM
Big Mike said...: "It's the quality of your close relationships that matters."

@Althouse, I guess you and Meade are going to live forever?; 4/21/17, 11:45 AM
Meade said...: "Relationships are messy and they're complicated"

Only when done right.; 4/21/17, 12:22 PM
Etienne said...: "Melanie Curtin is passionate about millennials, sustainability, women's empowerment and authentic expression."

Oh fiddle-sticks, I broke my new passion pink crayon.; 4/21/17, 12:56 PM
readering said...: Micheal K: I would surmise that in middle class families children have a lot more interaction with adults than in our day. From my observation helicopter parenting is a real thing. Yale had problems with free speech in the seventies. Read the Woodward Report.; 4/21/17, 1:27 PM
Darrell said...: People
People who need people
Are the sorriest cocksuckers in the world
---Barbara Streisand; 4/21/17, 1:36 PM
William said...: OJ and Nicole would beg to differ, but, hey, at least they tried.; 4/21/17, 4:50 PM
Michael K said...: "From my observation helicopter parenting is a real thing."

Oh yes. I see it in my own kids. My older son and his wife have two little girls. His mother, my ex-wife, commented a couple of years ago that she was not sure the oldest had ever touched the floor. She has a sharp tongue but the point was not a bad one. That son and his wife are big time lefties. Real helicopter types.

My other son and his wife have three kids, one boy. They are very involved with the kids' lives and drive them to school, etc.

I can't complain much because my kids were in private school too far from home to walk to after about age 8.

I walked to school but people lived close to schools, even Catholic schools, in those days.

My time on the planning commission was taken up a lot with the issue of parents driving kids to school because the developer had not anticipated that the homes would get so expensive that those close to schools would be owned by people too old to have school age kids. The city was built so that schools were located in the center of a tract. Kids ought to be able to walk but the homes near the schools got too expensive.

If my father had shown up at one of my games in high school or grade school, I would have fainted.

I quit kindergarten after three days. Long story but I just stopped going after a nun smacked my hand with a ruler. I would get up every morning and walk but I went to a nursery owned by a friend of my father. It was next door to the school. I would help with the plants until noon when I could hear the school bell at the school. The school never called my mother.

Fortunately, we moved in November before it got cold so I never went to kindergarten. My mother never knew until I told her 40 years later. If we had not moved, I don't know what I would have done. Chicago winter.; 4/21/17, 5:27 PM
Bob Loblaw said...: Maybe people who are happier and healthier are able to sustain better relationships. That jerk with cancer... always going on about his lack of energy and hair loss.; 4/21/17, 6:58 PM
mockturtle said...: Beat me to it, Bob. Happy people probably have better relationships than do unhappy people. But these researchers love to conclude cause and effect...; 4/21/17, 9:23 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: I confidently predicted yesterday that this post would garner the least comments of the day.

Glad to see it turn out that I'm right!; 4/22/17, 10:58 AM
Ron said...: Ancient Greek philosopher, Epicurus, made friendship foundational to the good life. Aristotle was big on friendship as well. Quality is important though. Numbers are important in this respect: You are likely to outlive several friends.

Better to have no close friends than friends who lead you astray.; 4/23/17, 9:31 AM