Everything Is Better Together: Analyzing the Relationship Between Socializing and Happiness in the American Time Use Survey

We conducted the same set of analyses on the 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2021 waves of the ATUS (the only years that included questions about happiness). We preregistered the primary analyses and exclusion criteria for the 2013 and 2021 analyses (see the preregistration at: https://tinyurl.com/ysbw72m3).

Across more than 40,000 participants and more than 100,000 episodes, we found that participants consistently rated every common daily activity as more enjoyable when interacting with someone else. Indeed, across 297 activity-specific coefficients over the 4 years of analyses, only one was negative: in 2021, kitchen clean-up was slightly less enjoyable when social interaction was involved (−0.028). Notably, every activity was significantly more enjoyable with other people in at least 1 year; from using drugs or purchasing gas to grocery shopping or banking, adding a touch of sociability was always associated with greater happiness. Our results also support the reports from attendees of reading parties—reading was significantly more enjoyable with the addition of social interaction in 3 of the 4 years. Of all the activities, eating consistently showed the largest happiness increase when paired with socializing, except in 2021, when it ranked second. In addition, people tended to be much happier when socializing (vs. not) during episodes that involved travel, reflecting the relative pleasure of commuting with company. People were also happier when engaging in active leisure with others, as activities such as walking, running, and working out were all significantly more enjoyable when they involved social interaction.

Because we did not randomly assign participants to engage in these activities with or without social interaction, we cannot draw causal conclusions from our analyses. We did rule out one key confound, however, by showing that social interaction predicted people’s current happiness over and above their prior happiness levels. Nevertheless, our findings do not directly contradict previous experimental work suggesting that sharing negative experiences amplifies displeasure (e.g., Boothby et al., 2014, 2016). Indeed, the naturalistic aspect of the ATUS means that even when people were engaging in an activity in the company of others, they were not necessarily sharing the exact experience. For example, participants may have been on the phone with a friend while cleaning up, rather than scrubbing countertops side by side. In fact, our measure of social interaction was dichotomous (Yes/No), meaning that we cannot differentiate between socializing in-person or over the phone. As such, it is impossible to know how exactly participants were socializing during every activity. Moreover, some activities may be fundamentally different when social interaction is involved; dining alone may involve a simple meal at home, while dining with others might consist of a decadent meal at a fancy restaurant. That said, it is notable that even mundane or unpleasurable activities in our analyses were still more enjoyable with company. In fact, we found some exploratory evidence that socializing was most associated with happiness for the activities that were least enjoyable alone. The findings uncovered here provide an interesting counterpoint to the existing experimental work and highlight the value of descriptive research in psychology (e.g., Asch, 1952; Baumeister et al., 2007; Rozin, 2009).

If everything is better together, then why do people still choose to do things alone? One obvious explanation is that companionship is not always available; even if we want to socialize while we empty the litter box, we may not always have an available friend to chat with. Nevertheless, past research suggests people may underestimate the emotional benefits of interacting with others (Epley & Schroeder, 2014). Consistent with this pattern, even when it came to the activities that were most frequently done alone, people still reported significantly more enjoyment when accompanied with others. This suggests that people may be systematically underestimating how happy they will feel when socializing during activities that are typically solitary.

That said, it is important to note that people are motivated by more than just happiness (Oishi & Westgate, 2021, 2025; Ryan & Deci, 2000) and that solitude is conducive to creativity (Long et al., 2003) and often necessary for many personal pursuits. Indeed, reading parties may be more enjoyable than reading alone, but if we want to finally conquer War and Peace, a little solitude may be necessary. Likewise, preparing for that big exam may require foregoing that always fun — but always unproductive — group study session. Given the potential conflict between social interaction and productivity, it is possible that people focused on productivity (e.g., “productivity orientation”; Keinan & Kivetz, 2011) may be more likely to forego opportunities to socialize during more utilitarian activities.

When considering our findings, it is worth underscoring that the effects are relatively small. For example, on average in 2013, people were 0.22 points happier on the 0–6 happiness scale when they were socializing (vs. not). However, given that people face countless opportunities to socialize throughout their daily lives, these small effects may accumulate into meaningful differences in overall happiness. Indeed, Götz et al. (2022) argue that such small effects can compound over time.

Although this study contained a diverse sample of American adults, it is unclear whether these findings would generalize to other cultural contexts. For example, research suggests that the emotional impact of specific social interactions differs between Eastern and Western cultures (e.g., Pourmand et al., 2021). Moreover, the ATUS does not collect any information on individual differences such as personality. As a result, we were unable to explore how individual differences such as introversion might influence the relationship between socializing and happiness. While it is possible that the relationship might be attenuated for more introverted individuals, there is evidence that the relationship between socializing and happiness is similar across extraverts and introverts (e.g., Epley & Schroeder, 2014; Lucas et al., 2008; Srivastava et al., 2008; Sun et al., 2020).

A key strength of the current study is that we were able to examine an 11-year timespan in which the United States experienced major cultural changes, including a global pandemic and the election of Donald Trump. The consistency between our exploratory (2010 and 2012) and preregistered (2013 and 2021) analyses is remarkable given these societal shifts. Indeed, socializing was still consistently related to increased happiness, even in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, although the smaller effect sizes in 2021 likely reflect the additional costs of socializing during this time. Taken together, these results suggest that whether we are eating, reading, or even cleaning up around the house, happiness thrives in the company of others.

Handling Editor: Yuthika, Girme