Strong Relationships Foster Happiness Aristotle was once quoted as saying “Happiness depends on ourselves.” Ironically, loneliness is rarely associated with happiness. Aristotle does agree “friendship is one of the most important virtues”(The Pursuit of Happiness). People are meant to be in relationships with others. This isn’t new news, even Adam wasn’t left alone in the garden; he was given Eve. Since 1943 Maslow’s pyramid has included relationships as a basic human need. Close relationships increase self-esteem, sense of purpose, and even reduce stress. It’s no surprise that close friendships would also promote feelings of happiness. People with stronger relationships with friends and/or family members are happier. However, some will argue it doesn’t matter how many friends someone has or even if they have close family ties because happiness is built into DNA.
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It isn’t the number of friends that make someone happier, but rather the quality of relationships. A good example of this is social media. Often someone may have 1000 “friends” on Facebook, but those are rarely close intimate relationships. A study performed with college students showed on average students had 3 close relationships (Demir and Weitekamp). One study even showed that it only took 1 strong friendship to make a difference, if it was a strong healthy relationship. Likewise, studies have shown having a large number of friends can still lead to loneliness if they aren’t quality mutual relationships. Aristotle agreed with this theory saying that a lot of time and care needs to be devoted to a friendship, so having a lot of friends can actually be counterproductive. This could also be because in a larger circle of friends, with fewer close personal friendships, people are more likely to talk about generic topics (sports, movies, music, etc.) rather than discuss personal things and
It isn’t the number of friends that make someone happier, but rather the quality of relationships. A good example of this is social media. Often someone may have 1000 “friends” on Facebook, but those are rarely close intimate relationships. A study performed with college students showed on average students had 3 close relationships (Demir and Weitekamp). One study even showed that it only took 1 strong friendship to make a difference, if it was a strong healthy relationship. Likewise, studies have shown having a large number of friends can still lead to loneliness if they aren’t quality mutual relationships. Aristotle agreed with this theory saying that a lot of time and care needs to be devoted to a friendship, so having a lot of friends can actually be counterproductive. This could also be because in a larger circle of friends, with fewer close personal friendships, people are more likely to talk about generic topics (sports, movies, music, etc.) rather than discuss personal things and