In order to experience a fun weekend, spending time with relatives and friends is important. Nothing new, we hear you think. Researchers John F. Shun Wang and Helliwell however also found scientific data to support this claim. Based on the database of research company Gallup they found that the success of weekend depends on two elements: emotions and satisfaction with life in general.
Conclusions
During the weekends, people have greater levels of happinesses, wellness, laughter and remarkable experiences. Weekdays, by contrast are good for sadness, anger and anxiety. The social context – both at work and at home, plays a big role in how one is feeling over the weekend.
The effects of a successful weekend are twice as big for people who work full time. For people who already enjoy their work environment, have good relationships with colleagues and managers it doesn’t matter if the weekend was successful or not.
The researchers found that a large portion of the weekend effects is explained by differences in the amount of time spent with friends or family between weekends and weekdays. The extra daily social time in weekends raises average happiness by about 2%.
So stop reading blogs and do something social this weekend, you know it’ll increase your happiness.
Source: SSRN
John F. Helliwell, & Shun Wang (2011). Weekends and Subjective Well-Being NBER Working Paper Series, w17180
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