DiscoverChicago Booth Review PodcastDoes choosing your friends make you happier?
Does choosing your friends make you happier?

Does choosing your friends make you happier?

Update: 2025-10-29
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In the west, we are more likely to choose our friends and dropping them is relatively easily done. In other cultures, people tend to stick with the same social network for their whole lives. But does the ability to choose and to drop your friends make you happier? Chicago Booth's Thomas Talhelm tells us about his research on social circles and happiness. Why do friendships endure more in Japan than in the US? Who's happier? And how important is happiness anyway?

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Does choosing your friends make you happier?

Does choosing your friends make you happier?