Go Ahead and Flake on Those Plans: Science Says It’s Okay
Listen, any excuse for staying in on a Friday night is a good excuse — but when science is telling you to draw a bath and read a new book, who are you to disagree? A new study, published in the British Journal of Psychology, is saying that ditching plans with friends might actually make you happier.
The study polled 15,000 people aged 18 to 28 to find the sweet spot of social happiness, and there were some interesting results. While researchers assumed that most people would follow the ancient, ancestral equation of more social activity equals more happiness, what they instead found was that those with high intelligence (hi, gorgeous!) have a slightly different result. Smart cookies were fine with having less friends, and in fact it made them happier to have fewer social interactions — possibly because, as any girlboss knows, it’s quality over quantity that counts.
The study also found that those who lived in higher density areas like cities found less happiness overall. For any of you living in a big urban area, that might be completely understandable when you consider all the daily stresses of a super fast-paced life.
Obvi, keep in mind that the information is complicated in part by the fact that happiness is truly subjective and hard to measure — but if science says it’s okay to stay in, watch Netflix and eat ice cream in bed, then by all means, go for it.
Tweet us your favorite alternative nightly plans @BritandCo!
(Photos via iStockphoto)
