More Americans are dining alone — and it's hurting happiness
Americans are dining alone at record rates, according to the latest World Happiness Report (WHR).
Why it matters: Sharing meals helps encourage conversation and foster community, which is closely linked to happiness.
By the numbers: Roughly 1 in 4 Americans (26%) in 2023 said they ate all of their meals alone the previous day — a 53% increase from 2003.
Young adults are driving the solo dining trend, multiple studies show — and they're also reporting high levels of loneliness.
Zoom in: The more meals people shared, the happier they reported feeling — even when controlling for factors like income and employment, Gallup principal researcher Andrew Dugan tells Axios.
The happiness jump was particularly high when comparing people who shared no meals to those who shared one meal a week, Dugan says.
Yes, but: There's a difference between enjoying the food and ambience at your table for one and scarfing takeout alone at home.
Solo dining can be a positive, social event, if you go into it with the right mindset. Think: Choose a communal table, chat up someone at the bar.
"Even if you're introverted and in a hurry, if you act extroverted, you end up improving your mood," Jenny Taitz, clinical psychologist and author of "Stress Resets," tells Axios.
The intrigue: Dugan says happiness levels max out after a certain number of shared meals.
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