When something good happens, we often want to tell a friend. Psychologists found that sharing good news makes us feel even happier. It works best when the listener is really excited for us.

In one study, 79 couples talked about good and bad events. Their reactions to good news were strongly linked to how the couples were doing two months later. So when a friend shares good news, ask a question and celebrate together.

Psychologists use the word "capitalization" for sharing good news with other people. Research by Shelly Gable's team showed that people feel better on days when they tell others about positive events, especially when the listener seems truly excited. The team divided responses into four types.

For example, "Wow! How did you do it?" is active and constructive. "Oh, that's nice" is passive, while pointing out problems or changing the subject is destructive. Only the first type helped relationships grow. In another study, 79 couples were filmed talking about recent good and bad events.

Their reactions to good news were more closely linked to relationship quality two months later than their reactions to bad news. One reason may be that good things, even little ones, happen almost every day.

In a series of studies, Shelly Gable and her colleagues looked at what happens when people share good news. On days when participants told others about a positive event, they gained extra benefits beyond the effect of the event itself, especially when the listener seemed enthusiastic. Psychologists call this "capitalization."

Gable's team sorted responses along two dimensions, active versus passive and constructive versus destructive. Only active-constructive replies went along with better relationships. In a later study, 79 couples were video-recorded while discussing recent positive and negative events. The researchers analyzed both how understood the speakers felt and how outside observers rated the exchanges.

Responses to positive events predicted relationship well-being, and breakups, two months later more strongly than responses to negative events did. This is observational research, so the arrow could point either way. Warm responses may strengthen a relationship, or people in strong relationships may simply respond more warmly.

We usually judge a friend by how they behave in hard times, but the way they react to good news may matter just as much. One likely reason is frequency. Good events happen more often than bad ones, and each one is another chance to grow closer.