We love throwing New Year’s Eve parties. Gathering all of our best friends together, picking the food, drinks, and music, saving tons of money — it all just makes for a fun and unforgettable night. But we also get that there are concerns about party throwing, like clean up, bad guests, and how much prep is involved.
If you’re on the fence — wondering if throwing a New Year’s party is worth the hassle — we’re here to tell you that science backs us up on this one. Yes, science LOVES PARTIES. And who are you to not listen to science, the president? Studies show throwing a New Year’s Eve party is one of the best things you can do to set yourself up for a fantastic 2019.
Here’s why:
Planning an event extends the pleasurable feelings associated with it.
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Think about the things that you most look forward to — holidays, birthday parties, the first time you kiss someone you’re attracted to… The actual event might be fun, but the lead up is often even better. All that building of excitement and anticipation leaves you filled with happy feelings for far longer than the few hours you actually experience the great thing itself. And a recent study, Looking forward, looking back: Anticipation is more evocative than retrospection backs this anecdotal evidence up.
Researchers measured participants emotions before and after big events and found that their feelings were far more intense before than after. Once something has passed, feelings tend to be more muted, regardless of how great it was. Planning, they found, can end up actually being more pleasurable than the party (and holds more power than the nostalgia we feel after). So putting together your own event gives you way more active participation in the lead-up excitement to New Year’s Eve. Your own party extends the New Year’s fun before it even starts.
Surrounding yourself with familiar faces may make you happier leading into the New Year.
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While it can be fun to be one of many in an unfamiliar partying crowd, there’s something to be said about the satisfaction of just gathering your besties. A study from the University of California, San Diego concluded that we see familiar faces as happier and more pleasant than unfamiliar ones. Researchers had the participants look at completely neutral faces, some were unfamiliar, others they knew. And when scoring emotion on those faces, they consistently rated the familiar faces as happier than the others — even though both faces were objectively expressing the same emotions and to the same degree.
If you want a party that makes you buzz at a higher level of group happiness, there may not be any actual difference to the happiness of the crowd on the beach as compared to your friends at your party, but you’ll feel like there is. And that will carry you into 2019 feeling euphoric.
Drinking champagne makes you more attractive and physically healthier.
At New Year’s eve the champagne flows pretty freely and in one of those “this is exactly the news we want to hear” studies, scientists have found that two glass of the bubbly stuff a day is good for your heart health. On top of that, champagne actually has less calories generally than wine and beer (which obviously means you’re practically losing weight just by drinking it, right?). And if you’re planning on having a wild night (pouring champagne on each other and licking it off) you’ll end up with softer, more glowing skin. The resveratrol in champagne has an antioxidant that protects against skin damage (So you’ll get younger as the year gets older!) reduces inflammation, calms redness, and softens skin.
That’s enough evidence for us to Flash Dance it out with champagne this year. There’s kind of no downside?
The upbeat, happy music and movement may increase our satisfaction and arousal.
On New Year’s, the beats tend to be bumping and hopeful, and that may translate to a better time in the bedroom in 2019. In a study in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, scientists studied the interplay between happy music and dancing and sad music and depressed movement, and how it affected viewer perception and arousal. They found that pairing upbeat movement with positive music created more arousal and satisfaction for the audience. Another study, found that women rate men as more attractive and date-able when listening to certain music, again leading to more arousal.
So, no pressure, but the playlist you make will determine whether anyone has sex at your party. That Frozen track coming on accidentally could c**kblock the entire room of men and women. Choose wisely and be careful.
Throwing a party helps you declutter your life.
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Throwing a party leads to cleaning up and organzing beforehand and while that may seem like a bummer, it can actually improve your quality of life in the long-run. Research has shown that people with messier homes have higher stress cortisol levels. That leads to adverse health effects and relationship dissatisfaction. And another study from Princeton, concluded that clutter hurts focus and creativity.
All to say, just throwing a party (and finally throwing out some of your crap), may lead to a more successful and happier 2019.
Being with friends and family improves your health and gives your life meaning.
Inviting your friends and family to ring in the New Year at a party could lead to you living longer. An article in American Society of Aging found that bigger social networks lead to better cognitive functions and memory as you age. The better your relationships, the more positive these health effects are. Plus, being around friends boosts your psychological well-being as well. Studies have found that people who have great friends report feeling a greater meaning and purpose in life. So starting the year with a positive event for your friends and family may be just what the doctor ordered.
To conclude, if you were thinking of bailing on that party you were throwing, don’t! Not if you care about your health, future, and the future of humanity.
Okay, that last one might have been too far. But maybe not. Butterfly effect, you know? You have no idea the consequences that not throwing this party could have for the future of all of humanity. Better make it epic, just in case.
