Happiness is contagious  , as researchers reported on Thursday. People with the most social connections -- spouses, friends, neighbors and relatives -- were also the happiest, the data showed. "Each additional happy person makes you happier," Christakis said. "Imagine that I am connected to you and you are connected to others and others are connected to still others. It is this fabric of humanity, like an American patch quilt." Each person sits on a different colored patch. "Imagine that these patches are happy and unhappy patches. Your happiness depends on what is going on in the patch around you," Christakis said. "It is not just happy people connecting with happy people, which they do. Above and beyond, there is this contagious process going on." And happiness is more contagious than unhappiness, they discovered. "If a social contact is happy, it increases the likelihood that you are happy by 15 percent, " Fowler said. "A friend of a friend, or the friend of a spouse or a sibling  , if they are happy, increases your chances by 10 percent," he added. A happy third degree friend -- the friend of a friend of a friend -- increases a person's chances of being happy by 6 percent. "But every extra unhappy friend increases the likelihood that you'll be unhappy by 7 percent," Fowler said. The finding is interesting and it is useful, too, Fowler said. "Among other benefits, happiness has been shown to have an important effect on reduced mortality  , pain reduction, and improved cardiac   function. So better understanding of how happiness spreads can help us learn how to develop a healthier society," he said. The study also fits in with other data suggested in 1984 that having $ 5,000 extra increased a person's chances of becoming happier by about 2 percent. "A happy friend is worth about $ 20,000," Christakis said. Which of the following will increase your chances of becoming happier most?
Being in a party with a happy atmosphere. A happy experience of your brother or your parents. A happy trip to a foreign country of your friends. Happiness of your friend's friend.