Spend Time at Your Local Bar to Build Community and Happiness
If dirty sitcoms taught us anything, it’s that a bar isn’t just a place to get drunk. The community you create by regularly visiting the bar can be helpful in improving your own life.
As researchers at the Oxford Branch of Experimental Psychology explain, there are social benefits to frequent bar visits. Although the study was conducted in the UK (where the pub culture is developed), the basic concepts are broadly applicable. Namely, that bars and pubs offer visitors the opportunity to relax outside the home with like-minded people in a common place that they all appreciate. It promotes community development, which in turn has a positive effect on overall happiness:
Friendship and community are probably the two most important factors affecting our health and well-being. However, building and maintaining friendships is something to be done face-to-face: the digital world simply cannot replace. With the growing trend for our social lives to be conducted online rather than face to face, having laid-back accessible places where people can meet old friends and find new ones is becoming increasingly necessary.
Of course, bars aren’t the only place to build community – churches, clubs, and off-hours events are also candidates – but the researchers note that bars provide an opportunity for a little alcohol to lubricate social wheels. as well as a common space not dedicated to one task. Also, keep in mind that this study was sponsored by Campaign For Real Ale, so this might not be a strictly scientific statement, but at least it’s something worth discussing over a pint.