The good things that happen to us may count for more once we say them out loud.
Researchers Studied What Happens When People Tell Someone Their Good News. Telling It Added to the Joy, and How the Listener Answered Mattered.
In a 2004 paper, Shelly Gable, Harry Reis, Emily Impett and Evan Asher looked at what happens after people share a piece of good news.
Think of the last time something went well. A good report, a grandchild's first steps, a letter in the mail. **Who did you tell?**
Researchers wrote up four studies on exactly that. In two of them, **telling other people about a good event** went along with more daily happiness and well-being, **beyond the event itself.**
It was a study of everyday sharing, not of recorded family stories. Still, it points to something simple: **good news wants a listener,** and the people we love may be waiting to be told.
1. The telling added something
The paper, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, asked what people do **when things go right.**
In two of the four studies, people who **shared their positive events with others** reported more positive feelings and well-being on those days. That held **above and beyond the event itself.**
The good thing happened once. Telling it seems to have let it happen a second time.
2. How the listener answered mattered
The benefit grew **when the listener responded actively and constructively,** showing real interest, and shrank when the response was passive or dismissive.
Two of the studies looked at couples. Relationships where a partner **typically answered good news with enthusiasm** were linked to more closeness and happier days together.
It was not only the telling. It was being heard.
3. The honest part: this was everyday life, not a family archive
The paper looked at **sharing good news and how people respond,** not at life stories, recordings or family history. The summaries we could read **do not state sample sizes,** so this page states none.
What it offers is a **small, warm nudge.** Ask the people you love for their good news, and listen like it matters.
A narrow finding, honestly limited, and an easy thing to try tonight.
Communicating personal positive events with others was associated with increased positive affect and well-being, above and beyond the impact of the positive event itself.Summary of the findings in Gable, Reis, Impett and Asher, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2004, as given in the journal abstract
What you get with LifeScribe
- A 2004 paper in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology reported four studies on sharing positive events.
- In two studies, telling others about good events went along with more daily positive feelings and well-being.
- The benefit was larger when the listener responded actively and constructively.
- Two studies linked a partner's enthusiastic responses to better relationship well-being.
- The studies did not test families, recordings or life stories.
- Built on documented research: Gable, Reis, Impett and Asher, 87(2), 228 to 245, 2004.
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Just a phone call, free. Ari listens with real interest, asks about your life, and keeps your stories in your own voice for the people you love.
Good news is told once, then it is gone. The stories behind it are the same. Tell them while someone is ready to listen, in your own voice. It is just a phone call.
Tell someone your good news.
Ari calls, listens with interest, asks what came next, and keeps your stories in your own voice for the people you love.
Questions grandparents ask us
What did the study actually find?
In a 2004 paper, telling others about positive events was linked to more daily positive feelings and well-being, and the link was stronger when the listener responded actively and constructively.
Who ran it?
Shelly Gable, Harry Reis, Emily Impett and Evan Asher, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, volume 87, issue 2, pages 228 to 245.
How many people took part?
The summaries we could read do not say, so this page does not guess. The abstract describes four studies.
Did it study families or recorded stories?
No. It looked at sharing good news and how people respond, including in couples. This page makes no claim that it applies to recorded life stories.
Why does it matter for a life story?
It suggests that being listened to makes telling worth more. Telling your story to someone who is interested, and keeping it in your own voice, gives your family a version only you can give.
https://getlifescribeapp.com/blog/the-good-news-you-tell-out-loud