With age, friends become more important than family

New Delhi : Finding friends more close to you than your own family members? Don't worry, it is completely okay with the growing age, claims a study.

William Chopik, assistant professor of psychology at Michigan State University, led a pair of studies over thousands of people from hundreds of countries. 

Chopik analysed survey information about relationships and self-rated health and happiness from 271,053 participants of all ages from nearly 100 countries. 

Based on the study, he claimed that friendships play a larger role in happiness as we get older.

“You just have all this free time.  And what do you do with that?  You know, you spend it with your friends,” said Chopik.

“Especially if you have family members passing away, friends can really fill that void and make life much more enjoyable,” he added.

He also revealed that it is not necessary that people will fall for friends only, some family relationships are enjoyable too.

The MSU study has been published in the latest edition of the journal Personal Relationships.