Who makes you happier, your family or your friends? If you answered friends, you’re absolutely correct, according to two surveys featuring more than 300,000 people between the age of 15 and 99, from more than 90 countries. The surveys found that those who valued friendships highly were healthier and happier, especially as they got older. They also found that when friendships were reported as being stressful, people reported higher rates of disease. The author of the research isn’t suggesting that we don’t like our families, he’s just saying that our friends seem to make us feel better.