And happiness can clearly be passed on from one person to another through cheerful "niches" in mutually beneficial social connections, Sir Mansel said yesterday.
His lecture, titled "The Pursuit of Happiness and Wellbeing: A Forlorn Hope?", attracted about 60 people to the University of Otago preventive and social medicine department yesterday.
If misery loves company, happy people also enjoy spending time together.
A large United States study had shown significant geographical clustering of both happy and unhappy people, he said.
Being with a happy person brought not only joy to another, but could also help add to a broader sense of satisfaction about life.
Happiness had been shown to protect against some forms of illness, and people with a strong sense of wellbeing also tended to view any illness they had more positively than was the case with perpetual "moaners".
During a witty and wide-ranging presentation, Sir Mansel, a former rheumatologist, recalled earlier warnings from colleagues that studying a "soft" subject like happiness could ruin his career.
But his work on happiness and pockets of social resilience pointed to more effective ways of promoting public health messages, including through locally respected "champions".
Simply preaching to people not to smoke or drink excessively "does not work".
