Good conversations are the key to everyday satisfaction

Was the day nice? The probability increases if you at least had a good conversation with a friend. This is reported by researchers led by Jeffrey Hall from the University of Kansas in the journal “Communication Research”. Originally, they wanted to find out what actually makes good conversations. But as it turned out, such details didn’t really matter.

The research group asked more than 900 students to have a conversation with a friend at least once a day. The test subjects were each given only one task: have a deep conversation, exchange news, fool around, show care or appreciation, listen or give honest compliments. In the evening they should give information about how they felt.

Talking on the phone is better than none at all

Compared to a control group that had received no such instruction, they felt slightly better on average in the evening. Most importantly, they felt less stressed and more connected to other people. The more such conversations they had, the greater the effect on well-being. However, once a day was enough for the contact to have an effect, and preferably face-to-face. However, contacts by phone or via social media were better than none. The extent to which they had a good conversation played no role in the beneficial effect: the decisive factor was obviously that there was any good conversation at all.

“Many studies show that happier and less lonely people have more and better conversations,” Hall says. But they were able to prove that even a single, instructed conversation had an effect. He and his team explain the effect by saying that talking to friends fulfills the human need to belong, and that also helps to deal with stress. Her conclusion: everyone can brighten their day with good conversations.