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

Social interaction is robustly linked to happiness, but are all daily activities better with other people, or are some activities more enjoyable in solitude? We utilized data from four waves of the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) to test whether the impact of socializing varied across a comprehensive list of activities. Specifically, we examined the relationship between socializing and happiness across more than 80 daily activities by analyzing 105,766 activity episodes from 41,094 participants. Remarkably, we found that participants consistently rated every common daily activity as more enjoyable when interacting with someone else. Across 297 activity-specific coefficients over the 4 years of analyses (60–85 coefficients per year), only one coefficient was negative. Moreover, every activity was significantly more enjoyable with other people in at least 1 year. These results suggest that whether we are eating, reading, or even cleaning up around the house, happiness thrives in the company of others.