Harvard conducted a great study on happiness “It’s not just the number of friends you have, and it’s not whether or not you’re in a committed relationship,” says Waldinger. “It’s the quality of your close relationships that matters.” What that means is this: It doesn’t matter whether you have a huge group of friends and go out every weekend or if you’re in a “perfect” romantic relationship (as if those exist). It’s the quality of the relationships — “ We have been brought up to believe that a significant other plus children is the holy grail to happiness. Most conjugal relationships are not happy ones and children actually exacerbate.