How Much Pain You Can Handle Might Be Determined By This One Thing

Having a group of friends to go to happy hour with is great. You get to complain about your love life (or lack thereof), bitch about your horrible boss and get a few laughs in.

And according to recent research at Oxford University, having friends isn't just fun, it also significantly increases your pain tolerance.

To test this theory, researchers had 101 adults between the ages of 18 and 34 fill out questionnaires about their lives, including information about their social lives. They were then asked to squat against a wall with their legs at 90-degree angles as a "pain test."

While I'm the first to admit this particular exercise -- more commonly known as a "wall sit" -- is pretty painful, don't worry. None of these participants were actually harmed during the study!

Here's what the researchers found: Participants with larger social networks found this exercise a lot less painful than the ones with smaller social networks.

Pretty interesting, right? The findings showed having a larger social network gave you a higher pain threshold.

A higher pain threshold isn't the only reason you should keep your squad strong. Strong friendships also make you happier, make you smarter, help you cope with the tough stuff and may help you live longer.

I don't know about you, but I'm skipping the gym and grabbing a glass of wine with my best friend tonight.