>Objectives: To evaluate whether happiness can spread from person to person and whether niches of happiness form within social networks. Design: Longitudinal social network analysis.Setting: Framingham Heart Study social network.Participants: 4739 individuals followed from 1983 to 2003.Main outcome measures: Happiness measured with validated four item scale; broad array of attributes of social networks and diverse social ties.Results: Clusters of happy and unhappy people are visible in the network, and the relationship between people’s happiness extends up to three degrees of separation (for example, to the friends of one’s friends’ friends). People who are surrounded by many happy people and those who are central in the network are more likely to … Continue reading >James H. Fowler, Nicholas A. Christakis