Vishen LakhianiFounder of Mindvalley | NYT Bestselling Author | Transforming Lives Globally

The #1 connection to human happiness | Vishen

5 Oct 2022 · 1 min

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0:55

A short spoken segment from Vishen Lakhiani describing Ed Diener’s "Very Happy People Study," which identified strength of social connections as the primary correlate of happiness (reported correlation r=0.7). The speaker contrasts superficial online connections with deeper, in-person interactions that create stronger social bonds via shared experiences and nonverbal cues.

Questions this video answers

The Very Happy People Study.

0.7

Psychologist at Harvard.

Chapters

Ed Diener, the psychologist at Harvard, did a very interesting study called the Very Happy People Study. And he wanted to figure out what makes people happy. So they looked at everything. Is it fancy clothes? Is it warm weather? Turns out there's only one thing that makes you happy, and it has a 0.7 correlation with happiness. For the record, 1 is the highest correlation. It's a perfect match. 0.7 is pretty damn high. And it was the strength of your social connections. Now, the problem with online is that you have a connection, but is there strength to it? But when you and I sit down in a caf and we have a deep, meaningful conversation and we are connecting, ideally looking at each other in the eye, being able to see not just text on a screen, but hear your voice, see your nonverbal cues, that creates the strength in that social connection. So yes, you can have a connection with someone online, but strength, that's a different thing and that comes from shared experiences.