Your inner circle might just be the most powerful longevity hack. If you’ve got your supplement routine, workouts, and sleep schedule down, but neglect putting effort into building and maintaining your social circle, we hate to break it to you, but you’re missing out on one of the biggest wellness levers of all.
Decades of research show that deep, loving relationships are one of the strongest predictors of long-term happiness and physical health. Not status or career wins, but real connection.
To understand why friendships matter so much for overall well-being, we spoke with Harvard professor, author of The Happiness Files and social scientist Arthur Brooks. In this Q&A, he explains what defines a deep friendship, how relationships affect your nervous system and lifespan, and simple ways to build the kind of friendships that support your health for years to come.
Q. How do strong social connections impact longevity?
A: In the late 1930s, Harvard researchers began what is now an 88-year study tracking people to see what predicts happiness and health in old age. The study found, and keeps finding, that the strongest predictor of a long, healthy, and happy life wasn’t wealth or career success—it was love in your relationships. People with a loving marriage or deep, close friendships consistently fared the best. In fact, almost 60% of the difference in happiness between individuals, no matter how introverted or extroverted they are, is due to friendships. Simply put: happiness (and health!) is love. Full stop.
Q. What defines a deep friendship?
A: Aristotle offers us guidance—according to him, friendships exist on a ladder. At the bottom rung, friendships are based on utility to each other in work or social life. These are colleagues, partners to a transaction, or simply someone who does you a favor. Higher up the ladder are friendships based on pleasure, something you like and admire about the other person. At the highest level, there are friendships of virtue, or what Aristotle called a “perfect friendship”. These are friendships pursued for their own sake, and not instrumental to anything else. It’s about truly knowing each other, caring for each other’s growth and happiness, and having someone with whom you can be fully yourself—so much so that you can honestly say, “I don’t need you. I simply love you.”
Q. How does friendship affect stress, aging, and the nervous system?
A: “It’s no coincidence that loneliness is linked to premature mortality, poor cardiovascular health, chronic inflammation, sleep disruption, and a disregulated nervous system. Loneliness hurts both emotionally and physically for a reason: evolution designed us for social connection. Human beings are wired for deep social bonds because cooperation and belonging helped our ancestors survive. Friendship, then, isn’t a luxury—it’s a survival instinct that helps us live longer, calmer, and happier lives.”
Q. What’s one simple habit people can start to strengthen friendships today?
A: “Starting today, take 15 minutes to take stock of your friendships, and distinguish between “real friends” and “deal friends”. Deal friends are the people who help you in a transactional way, the friendships of utility or pleasure. There is nothing wrong with these friends—we all have them—but they’re not enough. Real friends are the people in your life that are beautifully useless—the ones who gain no benefit from being your friend, other than just being there for you. The friend that you would call at 2 a.m., the one you would stay close with even as you changed jobs or cities, the one who you can be honest with even when it hurts. Try to take stock
of your friendships once a month, and see how you build that list of real friends.”
Q. Why do friendships often fade as we get older, and why does that matter?
A: “Relationships can be one of life’s greatest challenges. As we age, careers and responsibilities crowd out our time for “useless” friends, and we naturally grow more selective about whom we keep close. You don’t need a crowd to be happy—but you do need real friends, because close friendship is one of the strongest predictors of well-being across a lifetime. The good news is that this is within your control: reach out, invest in the people you love, and build the friendships that make a meaningful life possible.”
Poosh Takeaways About Friendships and Health
Close friendships are one of the strongest predictors of long-term health and longevity.
Depth matters. Real friendships built on trust and care outperform casual or transactional ones.
A small circle of meaningful connections beats a large network of acquaintances.
Protect friend time the way you protect sleep or workouts. The payoff shows up in calmer stress responses, better mood, and real staying power as you age.
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