Wendy Zuckerman

Okay, so what is the biggest finding of this study in terms of what makes us happy, what makes the good life?

Why do you think you were so surprised back then?

I've heard you say you actually, when you started to see that in the data, you didn't publish it right away because you were so skeptical at what you were saying.

Is that right?

That good relationships not only made you happier, but healthier.

When we think about the damage that stress can cause, there is this really interesting study that you talk about around stress and wound healing.

It's a study that does make me cringe, I have to say.

Wow.

And so to tie it back,

to your research, any way that we can try to buffer that stress, including having good relationships, can help with that process.

And then in your research, you also found this connection between physical pain and good relationships.

Can you tell us about that?

you know, your research and others find that good relationships are so important.

The question then becomes, how do you build those good relationships?

And George Valiant, your predecessor, wrote this really lovely quote that I want to talk about.

He said, there are two pillars of happiness revealed by this study.

One is love.

The other is finding a way of coping with life that does not push love away.

So in your study, this is really interesting to me, you looked at how people coped with difficulties and the consequences of avoiding dealing with difficult things in life.

How do you actually study that?