This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Earlier this year, we convened a meeting of some of the most influential figures in modern happiness research to discuss what they had learned in their 600 combined years of research and professional experience. The group included pioneers like Richard Layard, Sonja Lyubomirsky and Martin Seligman, who turned happiness into a serious science.
As a result of their work, 90% of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries are now measuring life satisfaction. Many of these pioneers have remained active into their 80s and 90s, still writing, teaching and mentoring. If any group could identify the ingredients of a good life, this was it.
We recently published the outcome of this discussion in the Journal of Happiness Studies. The group identified many central themes to happiness: having basic needs met, relationships, meaningful work and living in ways that align with one's values and circumstances. Looking ahead, they were concerned about inequalities and declining youth well-being.
The single most recurring theme in the discussion, however, was the importance and joy that come from social relationships. As an interdisciplinary team of well-being researchers, we expected relationships to be part of the answer. They affect every aspect of life, amplify positive events, mitigate negative events and are considered to be a basic psychological need.
This is not only observed in Western countries; "having someone to count on" predicts life satisfaction around the world. In short, happy people have strong and satisfying relationships. What we did not expect was how frequently relationships would come up.
In nearly every part of the discussion spanning meaning, work, competition, culture, morality, technology and longevity, relationships were the linchpin of happiness. In their personal lives, several of these pioneers deliberately protected time for spouses, relatives, friends or grandchildren. One reorganized a schedule to give their close friendships more room.
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