To Make an Enjoyable Experience More Enjoyable, Share It With Someone

In the journal, Psychological Science, a new study from Yale University was published in August on the amplification effects of sharing an experience, either good or bad. Here's the abstract of the study:

In two studies, we found that sharing an experience with another person, without communicating, amplifies one’s experience. Both pleasant and unpleasant experiences were more intense when shared. In Study 1, participants tasted pleasant chocolate. They judged the chocolate to be more likeable and flavorful when they tasted it at the same time that another person did than when that other person was present but engaged in a different activity. Although these results were consistent with our hypothesis that shared experiences are amplified compared with unshared experiences, it could also be the case that shared experiences are more enjoyable in general. We designed Study 2 to distinguish between these two explanations. In this study, participants tasted unpleasantly bitter chocolate and judged it to be less likeable when they tasted it simultaneously with another person than when that other person was present but doing something else. These results support the amplification hypothesis. 

We might be better off trying to do enjoyable things with someone if we can, and try to do unpleasant things alone wherever possible. That should amplify the pleasure and reduce the displeasure in our lives. What do you think?

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