Do you believe that having a lot of friends makes you a happier person? Or, does having a lot of friends guarantee happiness?

The January issue of "Psychological Science" reports on a study that showed the happiest people spent the least amount of time alone.

222 Happy and Grumpy College Students

To conduct the study, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Illinois classified 222 college students in three groups: (1) overwhelmingly happy most of the time; (2) overwhelmingly unhappy; and (3) having average moods.

Having Lots of Friends Helps, But Not Always

The happiest were students from the first group who spent the least amount of time alone and the most time socializing with others. But some students in the unhappiest group also reported having satisfactory friendships. The study found that other factors were important to 'guaranteeing' happiness. These included how extroverted a person is, or how free they might be of neurosis or other psychological problems.

Interestingly, the study showed no connection between happiness and such factors as wealth, beauty, religious involvement or exercise.

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