Imagine it's a warm weekend evening. Someone fires up the barbecue, friends start arriving with homemade dishes, children run around the yard, and conversations flow long after the food is gone. There is nothing particularly extravagant about the gathering, yet almost everyone leaves in a better mood than when they arrived.
While it may seem like the grilled food deserves all the credit, psychologists say the real mood booster may lie elsewhere. Research suggests that backyard BBQs combine several ingredients that are strongly linked to happiness: sharing meals, spending time outdoors, and building meaningful social connections.
