The Rewarding Nature of Matchmaking

At some point, most people have made matches between others, from grabbing and introducing two strangers at a party to brokering romantic connections; even if not matchmakers themselves, many people can think of a friend or acquaintance who is notorious for their efforts to make such introductions – even if sometimes awkwardly unsuccessful. We investigate this proclivity to match others, demonstrating that such matchmaking – creating ties between others – has a causal impact on their happiness. Certainly, a great deal of evidence suggests that people enjoy connecting themselves to others and that having such social connections is strongly and consistently associated with higher well-being. Indeed, humans spend some 80% of their waking hours in the company of others (Emler 1994; Kahneman et al. 2004). Social interactions and social support impact both subjective and objective well-being, with social relationships both serving as a buffer against and hastens recovery from negative events ranging from depression to physical illness (e.g., Berkman and Syme 1979; Cohen and Janicki-Deverts 2009; Seeman 1996; Uchino 2004).