Having a daily catch-up chat with a friend, be it for a joke or to express your thoughts, can boost your happiness and reduce stress by the end of the day. That’s the finding of new research from the University of Kansas.
“This paper was an attempt to define quality communication in the context of relationships,” the researchers explain. “The types of communication we chose to study were ones shown in past research to make people feel more bonded through conversation.”
The study analyzed seven modes of communication:
- catching up
- meaningful conversation
- humor
- caring
- listening
- valuing opinions,
- and offering compliments.
Over 900 participants from five universities recorded their stress levels, connection, anxiety, well-being, loneliness, and day quality before, during, and after pandemic lockdowns, after engaging in one of these seven behaviors with a friend.
The results showed that the intention to reach out to a friend in any of these forms was more important than the specific type of conversation, leading to improved emotions and well-being.
“One of the take-home messages of this study is that there are many paths toward the same goal,” the authors explain. “There’s a lot of good research that says the number of interactions you have as well as the quality of interactions are both associated with being a less lonely, happier and more connected person.”
Little is enough
Instead, the research found that one quality conversation is often enough to boost your wellbeing, although having more is usually better.
“This means the more that you listened to your friends, the more that you showed care, the more that you took time to value others’ opinions, the better you felt at the end of the day,” the researchers explain. “This study suggests that anyone who makes time for high-quality conversation can improve their well-being. We can change how we feel on any given day through communication. Just once is all it takes.”
The study also brought in Hall’s past research on different ways to connect in the era of social and mobile media. The study found high-quality, face-to-face communication was more closely associated with well-being than electronic or social media contact.
Quality conversations were found to have the biggest impact in areas such as stress and making a connection with the other person. This reinforces the idea that communication helps us to ensure our need to belong is met, and when this occurs, it reduces our stress levels. As a result, we should all strive to ensure we make more time for quality conversations.
