Social contact is an important ingredient of a happy and satisfying life. But is more social contact necessarily better? Although it is well-established that increasing the quantity of social interactions on the low end of its spectrum promotes psychological well-being, the effect of interaction quantity on the high end remains largely unexplored. We propose that the effect of interaction quantity is nonlinear; specifically, at high levels of interaction quantity, its positive effects may be reduced (Diminishing Returns Hypothesis) or even reversed (Inverted U Hypothesis). To test these two competing hypotheses, we conducted a series of six studies involving a total of 161,836 participants using experimental (Study 1), cross-sectional (Studies 2 and 3), daily diary (Study 4), experience sampling (Study 5), and longitudinal survey designs (Study 6). Consistent evidence emerged across the studies supporting the Diminishing Returns Hypothesis. On the low end of the interaction quantity spectrum, increasing interaction quantity enhanced well-being as expected; whereas on the high end of the spectrum, the effect of interaction quantity was reduced or became nearly negligible, but did not turn negative. Taken together, the present research provides compelling evidence that the well-being benefits of social interactions are nearly negligible after moderate quantities of interactions are achieved. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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社会互动量对心理幸福感的非线性影响：收益递减还是倒U？

社会交往是幸福和满足生活的重要组成部分。但是更多的社会接触就一定更好吗？尽管众所周知，增加低端社会互动的数量会促进心理健康，但互动数量对高端的影响在很大程度上仍未得到探索。我们提出相互作用量的影响是非线性的；具体而言，在高水平的交互作用量下，其正效应可能会降低（收益递减假设）甚至逆转（倒 U 假设）。为了检验这两个相互竞争的假设，我们使用实验（研究 1）、横断面（研究 2 和 3）、每日日记（研究 4）、经验抽样（研究 5）进行了六项系列研究，共涉及 161,836 名参与者和纵向调查设计（研究 6）。在支持收益递减假设的研究中出现了一致的证据。在交互量谱的低端，增加交互量如预期的那样增强幸福感；而在光谱的高端，相互作用量的影响减少或变得几乎可以忽略不计，但并没有变成负面的。总而言之，本研究提供了令人信服的证据，表明在实现适度数量的互动后，社交互动的福祉益处几乎可以忽略不计。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2022 APA，保留所有权利）。而在光谱的高端，相互作用量的影响减少或变得几乎可以忽略不计，但并没有变成负面的。总而言之，本研究提供了令人信服的证据，表明在实现适度数量的互动后，社交互动的福祉益处几乎可以忽略不计。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2022 APA，保留所有权利）。而在光谱的高端，相互作用量的影响减少或变得几乎可以忽略不计，但并没有变成负面的。总而言之，本研究提供了令人信服的证据，表明在实现适度数量的互动后，社交互动的福祉益处几乎可以忽略不计。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2022 APA，保留所有权利）。