Oxford Researchers Identify Three Questions That Unlock a Happier Life
WHO:
Fast Company - The 2025 World Happiness Report was published by Oxford University and drew on a study of people in 147 countries.
Fast Company - The report’s researchers examined links between happiness and sharing meals, expectations that strangers are kind and trustworthy, and actions such as donating, volunteering, and helping strangers.
Phys.org - Lara Aknin, a professor of social psychology at Simon Fraser University, said, “Happiness emerges from a symphony of factors, but if I had to pinpoint one secret to happiness, relationships with other people might be it.”
Phys.org - Many of the world’s leading happiness researchers said they consciously spend more time with loved ones after seeing the evidence.
WHAT:
Fast Company - The report found that sharing meals, trusting strangers, and helping others were more strongly associated with self-measured life satisfaction than money or success.
Fast Company - Researchers studied eating lunch and dinner with others or alone; breakfast was not considered.
Fast Company - Happiness appeared to peak at 13 lunches or dinners with others per week, although the report found that any amount of shared meals was associated with increased happiness.
Fast Company - Researchers found that people generally underestimate how often a lost wallet would be returned with its money intact; people who thought a return was likelier also tended to be happier.
Fast Company - The report examined three types of benevolent acts: donating, volunteering, and helping strangers.
Fast Company - Researchers wrote, “Both helpers and recipients experience greater happiness from caring and sharing when they do so in the context of caring connections, choice, and clear positive impact.”
Fast Company - The article identifies Amazon, Facebook, Etsy, eBay, Uber, and Rover as companies whose services involve people interacting with strangers.
Fast Company - The article was written by Minda Zetlin and originally appeared on Inc.com, Fast Company’s sister website.
WHY:
Fast Company - The report linked greater well-being from benevolent acts to people’s choice to act, caring connections, and being able to see a clear positive impact.
Fast Company - The article says people who donate or volunteer may experience a larger happiness boost when they can observe the positive results and recipients can recognize their help.
HOW:
Fast Company - The report assessed social connections through meal-sharing frequency, expectations of strangers’ kindness and trustworthiness, and participation in benevolent acts.
(UPDATED October 27, 2026 15:07 UTC)
A global happiness study found that sharing meals, trusting strangers and helping others were more strongly linked to life satisfaction than money or success. Happiness was associated with any amount of eating lunch or dinner with others, and appeared to peak at 13 shared meals a week; people also tended to underestimate how often a lost wallet would be returned with its money intact. Researchers said acts of kindness brought greater well-being when people chose to help, felt connected to others and could see a positive impact, and many happiness researchers said they now spend more time with loved ones.