Want to be happy? Have a conversation

SMALL TALK doesn't cut it. What's important to a happy life are meaningful conversations, say psychologists at the University of Arizona in Tucson and Washington University in St. Louis.

Their study, published online in the March issue of the journal Psychological Science, found greater well-being from spending less time alone and more time talking meaningfully to others.

To learn about differences in conversation, researchers had volunteers complete personality and well-being assessments. Then, over four days, they wore a recording device that sampled 30 seconds of sound every 121/2 minutes, providing more than 20,000 recordings. Researchers identified conversations as trivial or substantive. They found the happiest participants spent 25% less time alone and 70% more time talking than the unhappiest.

Researchers suggest deep conversations may give a sense of meaning in interactions with others, which may make people happier.