Happiness associated with deep talk

Happy people spend more time conversing about serious subjects rather than chitchatting about the weather or engaging in other idle banter, a team of researchers has found.

Their study, published in Psychological Science, doesn't purport to prove a cause-and effect relationship between happiness and serious conversation. On the one hand, their report says, happy people may be “social attractors” who facilitate deep social encounters..

"On the other hand, deep conversations may actually make people happier. Just as self-disclosure can instill a sense of intimacy in a relationship, deep conversations may instill a sense of meaning in the interaction partners. Therefore, our results raise the interesting possibility that happiness can be increased by facilitating substantive conversations," the authors suggest.

There is anecdotal evidence that deep conversations do, in fact, lift the spirits. For example, members of the Inland Empire Atheists, Agnostics and Skeptics in Riverside enjoy serious talk about topics such as the meaning of life, the origin of the universe, evolution and politics.

Studies show atheists and agnostics on average have a higher IQ than others. Many have advanced degrees, or are otherwise informed about science and philosophy.

One Riverside atheist commented on joining the Inland Empire Atheists that he was glad to be around people who know what "a priori" means.

Charlene Powell, who organizes the West Side Lunch discussion group for the Inland Empire atheists believes that more meaningful conversations make people happier on many different levels:
"When we discuss more meaningful topics we are telecasting to the world our own deeper worth and meaning," she says.

Gayle Myrna, another IEAA member, notes one of the reasons she joined the group was to engage in intellectual discussions:
“Since then, I have not been disappointed. Our group has a high level of bright people...so the discourses are always engaging, whether or not I always agree with someone's position on a topic.”

She says she finds the discussions "very uplifting."

Dr. Matthias R. Mehl of the University of Arizona and his fellow researchers studied thousands of conversations by 79 undergraduates over a four-day period. They equipped each with a digital recording device that took samples every 12.5 minutes, analyzed the results to determine whether the participants were alone or talking with others and characterized their conversations according to complexity.

The research team found that --- consistent with other research --- people who were happy with their lives were more gregarious and talkative.

“For example, compared with the unhappiest participants, the happiest participants spent about 25% less time alone and about 70% more time talking.”

Moreover, the happiest also had about one third as much small talk and twice as many substantive conversations as the least happy.

The study " "Eavesdropping on Happiness: Well-being is Related to Having Less Small Talk and More Substantive Conversations” is available online.

The authors are Matthias R. Mehl, Simine Vazire, and their students, Shannon E. Holleran and C. Shelby Clark. Further research is planned to test the hypothesis that deep conversations engender happiness.

Their findings seem to have been anticipated by a philosopher who lived 2,400 years ago. “The unexamined life is not worth living.” --- Socrates

examiner.com