As it turns out, quality conversations make our days better

Do you have at least one conversation with a friend or family member each day? If so, you’re on the right track to a healthy mind. According to a recent study, engaging in at least one conversation with a loved one can increase happiness and lower stress levels by the end of each day.

The research identified a total of seven types of communication—catching up, meaningful talk, joking around, showing care, listening, valuing others and their opinions, and offering sincere compliments. They began by recruiting over 900 participants for the study, and tasking every participant with engaging in any of the seven types of communication. Some conversed through online messaging, others via phone calls, but most spoke with each other in person. Participants had to report how they felt at the end of each day by considering feelings like connection, well-being, anxiety, loneliness, or stress.

The results were positive, meaning the conversations participants were having at least once a day were more than enough to decrease stress and increase happiness. According to Jeffrey Hall, University of Kansas professor of communication studies and friendship expert, the more you listen to friends and family, the more you show care and the more that you take time to value others’ opinions, the better you feel at the end of the day.

Although one conversation a day is enough to make people feel better, participants who had more than one conversation a day with loved ones reported even better days. “This study suggests that anyone who makes time for high-quality conversation can improve their well-being. We can change how we feel on any given day through communication. Just once is all it takes”, says Hall.

However, in-person conversations were found to be more beneficial than texts, while phone calls were just as good as face-to-face interactions. Quality conversation mattered most for connection and stress, which supports the idea that we use communication to get our need to belong met, and, in doing so, manage our own stress levels.

So always remember to share your feelings with someone you trust the next time you’re feeling down. An essential takeaway from the study is that in order to maintain relationships, you have to be intentional, according to Hall.