If you’re looking for an excuse to throw a party, science has your back. Celebrating the positive events in life is good for our health and well-being, new research finds. And the celebration doesn’t even have to be over the top to be beneficial, it just has to include three things: 1) gathering with other people; 2) having food and drink; and 3) highlighting an important milestone.
Researchers wanted to know why celebrations are important and they did eight experimental studies on thousands of participants to find out. Lead study author Danielle Brick says they found that celebrations “increase social support” and reassure people that they have a social network they can count on. And the celebration can be for any positive life event, from a promotion to a birthday to the end of a busy week, it just needs to involve those three components.
“Buying yourself a congratulatory gift to celebrate an accomplishment just isn’t the same as celebrating with dinner and drinks with friends,” Brick explains. The study also finds that the benefits of celebrations reach beyond those participating in them. Those increased feelings of social support led participants to want to give back to their community by volunteering or donating to a cause, so it’s a win for everyone involved.
Source: NY Post