• Latest
  • All
Happiness study concludes: Our well-being depends on personal relationships, not wealth or fame

Happiness study concludes: Our well-being depends on personal relationships, not wealth or fame

May 18, 2023
This image was originally posted to Flickr by mroach at https://flickr.com/photos/73569497@N00/247710031 (archive). It was reviewed on 20 April 2018 by FlickreviewR 2 and was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-sa-2.0.

This Day in Conservative History: Fox News launches

October 8, 2025
Documentary exposes leftist takeover of schools

Documentary exposes leftist takeover of schools

October 8, 2025
Bishop Thomas delivers strong rebuke of FDA approval of abortion drug

Bishop Thomas delivers strong rebuke of FDA approval of abortion drug

October 8, 2025
Radical leftist arrested for attempted bombing of Catholic mass

Radical leftist arrested for attempted bombing of Catholic mass

October 8, 2025
Nigerian Angelican Church announces break with Canterbury over liberal female bishop

Nigerian Angelican Church announces break with Canterbury over liberal female bishop

October 8, 2025
This Day in Conservative History: The Battle of Lepanto

This Day in Conservative History: The Battle of Lepanto

October 7, 2025
Spanish socialists push for constitutional “right” to abortion

Spanish socialists push for constitutional “right” to abortion

October 7, 2025
Report reveals sinister trans-activist network in European Union

Report reveals sinister trans-activist network in European Union

October 7, 2025
Vienna March for Life terrorized with fake bomb threat

Vienna March for Life terrorized with fake bomb threat

October 7, 2025
Youngkin signs order banning men from women’s spaces

Youngkin signs order banning men from women’s spaces

October 7, 2025
  • About iFamNews
  • Contact

Navigation Button Subscribe

  • Subscribe
October 9, 2025
  • Login
  • Register
No Result
View All Result
  • English
    • Italiano
    • Español
    • Français
    • Deutsch
    • Polski
    • српски
    • Русский
    • Hrvatski

Navigation Button Donate

  • Donate
International Family News Network (IFN)
  • Home
  • Opinion
  • Life
  • Family
  • Culture
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Science
  • Shows
  • Petitions
  • Subscribe
  • Donate
International Family News Network (IFN)
  • Home
  • Opinion
  • Life
  • Family
  • Culture
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Science
  • Shows
  • Petitions
  • Subscribe
  • Donate
No Result
View All Result
International Family News Network (IFN)
No Result
View All Result

Happiness study concludes: Our well-being depends on personal relationships, not wealth or fame

Personal relationships are the main source of happiness and well-being, because through them we fulfill human needs, related to our physiological and psychological well-being.

Luca Volontè by Luca Volontè
May 18, 2023
in Culture, Foreground
955
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
Happiness study concludes: Our well-being depends on personal relationships, not wealth or fame
Share on FacebookShare on WhatsAppShare on TelegramShare on TwitterShare on WeChat

Robert Waldinger (USA, 1951) is one of the Harvard University psychiatrists and professors who conducted the “better-connected” study showing that “when we connect, we are able to do amazing things.” Waldinger not only agrees with the initiative’s leitmotif, but carries it forward and, based on the Harvard University happiness study–Harvard Study of Adult Development–of which he was director, he assures that “one of the keys to happiness is relationships with other people.”

The Harvard research did not consider external factors such as money or social status. In fact, Waldinger recalled that in a 2007 survey of millennials, they “linked happiness to money and fame, among other things.” And they do so, the professor continued, “because these are the messages society sends them.” Whether through advertisements, movies, series, media or examples within the company itself. To take care of our relationships does not have to take a lot of effort; excellent results can be achieved with many small daily actions that, according to Waldinger, should be inspired by four pillars:

  1. Friendships: The author of “A Good Life” believes that friends provide emotional support and are the support to lean on in stressful situations. Therefore, he insists on the importance of “taking care of relationships on a daily basis.”
  2. Staying active: Activity helps us maintain and expand our personal relationships, boosts our self-esteem and helps us find our purpose in life.
  3. Confidence and security: Our happiness is also based on the importance of not having to fake another personality and feeling secure in our personal relationships.
  4. Change: As individuals, we are changeable people; accepting this on our part and on the part of our personal relationships will help us to be happier.

In the end, these four pillars bring us back to the initial conclusion on which everything is based: personal connections are the engine of happiness. These, for the psychiatrist and professor, “help us reduce the stress” of our daily lives while, “when people have no relationships, are alone or have no one to talk to, they remain in that state of stress” and this personal situation causes real social earthquakes that, in the long run and with the multiplication of unhappy and lonely people, lead to the erosion and disruption of social and community cohesion, the end of subsidiarity and the growth of welfarism and statism. The importance of personal relationships was also revealed in the workplace. One study stated that 30% of workers have their best friend in the workplace, and contrary to what one might think about the possible distractions this might generate, these workers perform better because they have a greater commitment to the company than others.

Finally, Waldinger reminds us that the pursuit of happiness cannot be a unified goal, but rather the union of small things, small moments. The American psychiatrist, who participated in one of the most viewed TED talks to date with 40 million views, says that “happiness is a sum of small moments of joy like talking to a friend or seeing a flower.”

In Spain, Telefónica also conducted a study on the importance of human connections. Waldinger joins the long list of notable personalities to learn from or be inspired by Telefónica’s Better Connected initiative. It is a platform that emphasizes the importance of human connections as the key to accomplishing amazing things. Have you ever read Karol Wojtyla’s essay, Person and Act? Without rushing into decades-long studies in the search for happiness and how to regain it, though useful for a topical analysis of the problem, Karol Wojtyla’s essay gives us a broad presentation of ‘who’ we are and how the person, in self-relationship with Other and others, must live in a relationship in order to be happy.

Tags: Better Connectedhappiness studyHarvard UniversityRelationshipsRobert Waldinger
Luca Volontè

Luca Volontè

Luca Volontè was an Italian parliamentarian from 1996 to 2013, and served as president of the PPE-CD at the Assembly of the Council of Europe. Publicly engaged for decades in the promotion of life, family and religious and educational freedom, Luca  has served as a board member for various international organizations promoting Christian values and human rights, including his current role as a board member of the International Organization for the Family. He has authored books and essays for the Novae Terrae series by the publisher Rubbettino; he has been a correspondent for several Italian newspapers, and currently collaborates with La nuova Bussola Quotidiana, an online newspaper. He is a also a great bicycle enthusiast.

Discussion about this post

Popular News

  • Homosexual throple allowed to adopt child in Canada

    Homosexual throple allowed to adopt child in Canada

    0 shares 501 VIEWS
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • 75-year-old woman arrested again outside of abortion clinic in Scotland

    0 shares 282 VIEWS
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Jimmy Kimmel’s crocodile tears aren’t fooling anyone

    0 shares 238 VIEWS
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Slovakia enshrines gender as male and female in constitution

    0 shares 196 VIEWS
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Former Soros fund manager indicted on sex trafficking charges

    0 shares 193 VIEWS
    Share 0 Tweet 0

IFN – International Family News Network

© 2022 IFN – International Family News - All Rights Reserved.

Quick Links

  • About iFamNews
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy

Follow Us

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
Subscribe

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Opinion
  • Life
  • Family
  • Culture
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Science
  • Shows
  • Petitions
  • Subscribe
  • Donate

  • en English
  • it Italiano
  • es Español
  • fr Français
  • de Deutsch
  • pl Polski
  • sr српски
  • ru Русский
  • hr Hrvatski
  • Login
  • Sign Up

© 2022 IFN – International Family News - All Rights Reserved.