The ObservatoryWhen someone shares good news
How you respond to other people's joy builds the relationship more than how you comfort them in hardship.
How it works
- The good newsWrite
- Four ways to respondChooseWrite
- Practice the active-constructiveListWriteChoose
We often think relationships are built in hard moments — when we comfort. But the research points in a different direction: how you respond when someone shares something happy matters more. Think of the last time someone …
Exercise in 3 steps, about 9 minutes. Doing it is part of Premium, which you try free for 7 days with no card. With Premium your answers are saved so you can pick up where you left off and look back at what you wrote.
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Why does it work?
Gable et al. (2004, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology) found that active-constructive responses to a partner's good news predicted relationship satisfaction and a lower risk of breakup.
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