It’s not just your family and friends, but strangers too can make you happy.

It’s well established that humans are social creatures, and we can be happy when we indulge in a variety of activities and experiences. A recent study explores whether interacting with more people, and the increased frequency of diverse social interactions had a significant impact on people’s happiness. 

Researchers coined the term “relational diversity,” which comprises two elements: richness and evenness. Richness is the total number of relationship categories (family, friends, acquaintances, strangers, etc.) that you talk to, and evenness is the relative amount of time you spend talking to people across these categories.

Researchers, via the datasets from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and World Health Organization, analyzed the daily habits, schedules, and social interactions of over 50,000 people from 8 countries to document a link between the relational diversity of people’s social portfolios and well-being. 

The results published in the PNAS journal revealed that participants’ happiness increased when they interacted with more relationship categories and maintained even conversations across those categories. That is, instead of talking mostly to colleagues, for instance, having a few conversations with everyone, including your friends, family, and even strangers, were found to be beneficial.

Hanne Collins, a Harvard Business School doctoral student who co-authored this study, aptly framed the conclusion of the study in an interview with NPR. She said,  “It’s about connecting with people who are close to you, who are maybe less close to you, who connect you with other people, who provide different kinds of support. Essentially, the idea is that the more diverse your social portfolio, the happier you are and the higher your well-being.”