Greeting your neighbors may boost your well-being
- Greeting neighbors regularly correlated to higher well-being in five areas
- Older adults are more likely to be social with those in their neighborhood
- Those with higher incomes were also more likely to greet neighbors
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(NewsNation) — Saying hello to your neighbors may come with benefits to your well-being, according to a new survey from Gallup.
The Gallup National Health and Wellbeing Index is based on five areas: Career well-being, social well-being, financial well-being, physical well-being and community well-being.
The survey found those who said hi to their neighbors on a regular basis scored higher in all areas of well-being.
Older adults were more likely to greet their neighbors routinely, as well as those earning $120,000 or more per year. Having children also slightly increased the chance of people saying hi to those who live near them.
Social well-being has been linked to faster healing and reduced stress. In terms of social interaction, previous research has shown people in the U.S. are more likely to interact with their neighbors than those in other countries.
Researchers caution the correlation between saying hi to neighbors and well-being could also have to do with external factors, such as those with higher incomes living in safer neighborhoods, and said more research on the subject is needed.
