It was one of those ordinary days: the sun just lifting over rooftops, light drifting through tree branches, actors across porches carrying newspapers. You raise a hand, say “Hello” to someone you pass. It’s easy to dismiss that moment as small and inconsequential.
But according to recent research, that simple gesture of greeting neighbours — even people you barely know — might carry more power for our wellbeing than we imagine.
The Research And Its Surprising Findings
In 2023, Gallup’s National Health and Well-Being Index surveyed about 4,556 U.S. adults, asking how many of their neighbours they routinely greet. The results drew attention not just for what they found, but for how clear the pattern was:
- People who did not greet any neighbours had an average wellbeing score of 51.5 out of 100.
- Those who regularly greeted six neighbours had markedly better wellbeing scores — around 64.1.
- Beyond six neighbours, the increase in wellbeing essentially plateaued. More greetings after the sixth made little difference.
That “sweet spot” of six is the key fourth point everyone keeps returning to: greeting up to six neighbours seems to maximize gains in overall wellbeing. After that, the extra gains taper off.
The Dimensions Of Wellbeing That Increase
This isn’t just about feeling happier socially. Gallup broke wellbeing into five key domains — social, community, physical, career, and financial wellbeing — and found that greeting neighbours regularly corresponded with improvements across all of them (with some variation).
- Social wellbeing (friendships, connection) improves strongly.
- Community wellbeing (liking where you live, feeling safe, feeling a sense of belonging) is closely tied.
- Physical wellbeing (energy, health to do daily tasks) also rises.
- Career wellbeing improves — people feel more satisfied in what they do daily.
- Financial wellbeing shows gains, though interestingly it peaks at more than six neighbour-greetings (somewhere around 11-15) before leveling off.
Who Greets, And Why The Number Six Matters
Why six? And who tends to reach that number? The study offers insights:
- Age is a strong factor. People aged 65 and older average about 6.5 neighbour-greetings. By contrast, those under 30 average around 2.9.
- Income and household status also contribute: higher income tends to correlate with greeting more neighbours. Households with kids under 18 are modestly more likely to engage as well.
- Context and environment matter: you need to have opportunity (seeing people in your neighbourhood), feel safe, have physical ability, etc. If your neighbourhood or living situation limits how often you encounter others, greetings are less frequent.
What The “Six-Neighbour Sweet Spot” Really Means
This fourth point refers to the number six as roughly the tipping point where wellbeing increases significantly, but beyond which the returns diminish.
- From zero up through six greetings, each additional neighbour you say hello to is associated with steadily higher wellbeing.
- After six, however, more greetings do not meaningfully increase overall wellbeing. The curve flattens for most domains.
- There is a nuance: financial wellbeing continues to improve with more greetings beyond six, up towards around 11-15, before leveling off. But for most other wellbeing elements, six is the cap of meaningful gains.
So, greeting six neighbours isn’t arbitrary: it’s the point beyond which most people don’t gain much more in wellbeing from greeting more. It suggests that connection and visibility matter, but there are diminishing returns at some scale.
Supporting Evidence From Other Studies And Perspectives
While the Gallup poll is the most cited, other research confirms related ideas:
- A Swiss study of older adults (ages 61-90) used daily prompts via smartphones over 20 days. It found that contact with neighbours helped reduce feelings of loneliness and increased attachment to one’s neighbourhood. Even when the contact was minimal (not necessarily long conversations), just knowing you interacted contributed to emotional wellbeing.
- Broader reviews of neighbourhood relationships show that continuity and change in neighbourly relationships are meaningful for psychological wellbeing. For instance, how relationships with neighbours evolve matters for a person’s sense of identity, belonging, and mental health.
- The European Commission’s CORDIS site also summarized Gallup’s findings with commentary, reinforcing that six greetings is the “sweet spot” of wellbeing effects.
Bringing It Into Everyday Life: Stories And Insights
Picture Maria, an apartment-dweller who moved to a new city. Her weekday mornings started early: fetching coffee, grabbing the mail, heading down to the lobby.
Over time, she made a habit of saying hello to the maintenance staff, the elderly woman in 201B, the couple in 302, even the barista at the corner café. Within weeks she noticed something: walking felt lighter, her mind felt more anchored, and when she got home, she felt less alone.
Then there’s Raj, who lives in a suburban block. He works long hours, but returned home one evening to notice his neighbour’s porch light was out. He greeted that neighbour, offered help fixing the bulb. Over time, his network of neighbours widened.
Six neighbours eventually became his goal: those he crossed paths with often. He found community events meant more, he felt safer walking after dusk, and felt his job stresses eased a bit because at least he belonged somewhere.
These kinds of everyday moments mirror the statistical patterns: small interactions — nods, hello’s, shared smiles — woven into daily life build up to bigger gains in community, mental space, purpose.
Limitations, Cautions And What We Don’t Know
As with any research, there are caveats worth noting, humbly and carefully:
- Correlation, not causation: We can’t say for sure that greeting neighbours causes higher wellbeing. It could be that people who already enjoy higher wellbeing are more likely to greet neighbours.
- Context matters: Neighbourhood safety, design (apartments vs houses), urban density, culture of the place, individual mobility and energy all influence whether greeting neighbours is feasible and how meaningful it feels.
- Quality of interaction: The studies often don’t distinguish between shallow greetings (“hi”) and deeper interactions. It seems even minimal gestures help, but how deeply they matter is less clear.
- Cultural differences: Much of the data comes from the U.S. and some European settings. What counts as “greeting” or how much value people place on neighbours varies globally.
What You Can Do — Small Changes, Big Impact
If you feel inspired, here are ways you might incorporate this into your life — perhaps reaching that six-neighbour threshold and seeing what blooms:
- Take advantage of routine: the path to the mailbox, the stairwell, the morning walk. Use those regular opportunities.
- Be consistent: Even simple “hello”s, wave or nods, repeated over time matter more than a single big gesture.
- Know your environment: if safety is a concern, find times or places where you feel comfortable. Build ones that feel easy.
- Spread across different neighbours: aim for variety — speak to people you see often but haven’t connected with yet.
Conclusion: Small Gestures, Large Horizons
In a world that often pushes us towards digital screens, fast pace, anonymity, the idea of greeting neighbours might sound quaint or even naive. But science suggests that showing up in small ways — voices lifted, doors acknowledged, paths crossed — can anchor us, give us strength, meaning, belonging.
Reaching that number six might be key: it seems to capture enough connections to improve social, physical, community, career wellbeing in meaningful ways. Beyond six, you may reach a plateau — but the cost of reaching six is modest: visibility, kindness, human presence.
So tomorrow morning, or later today, take a moment. Say hello to someone you pass. It could be one of your six steps toward greater wellbeing.
