People need all kinds of relationships to thrive: partners, acquaintances, colleagues, and family. Research by Michael Norton and Alison Wood Brooks offers new reasons to pick up the phone and reconnect with that old friend from home
To a lesser extent, social portfolio diversity also had a measurable effect on overall health and positive emotions as well.
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The classic advice to investors is to diversify—put wealth into a combination of assets. Perhaps some cash goes into mutual funds, some in blue chips, and a little in growth stocks, spreading out risk as well as opportunity.
What if people thought about investments in social relationships the same way? A group of researchers recently considered that idea in a new study, concluding that variety is a crucial ingredient.
This article was provided with permission from Harvard Business School Working Knowledge.