Talking To Strangers And How It Makes Us Less Inhibited
Sometimes you feel less inhibited when talking to strangers than when talking to friends or relatives. The reason for this could be that strangers see you as you are. They don’t idealize you or lie to themselves about you. This is a very liberating feeling when we try to express ourselves or relate to another.
Canadian researcher John Helliwell confirms that talking to strangers is very satisfying. It increases the amount of happiness and contentment you experience. To be specific, talking to strangers increases our self-confidence because it is seen as an act of humility and kindness.
Yes, we all know the phrase, “don’t talk to strangers, huh!” still from our youth. This made perfect sense up to a certain age. Adults told you this so you could avoid danger. However, according to a study published in the Journal of the Mental Health Environment , conversation with a stranger produces a feeling similar to that of well-being.
Yet another study, published in Psychological Science, finds something very interesting. Children from the age of three can distinguish reliable people from unreliable people themselves. They can recognize who they should and should not approach. From the age of seven, they can do this in principle with the same accuracy as adults.
As we can see, talking to strangers has several positive psychological effects. These are different from the effects we experience when we interact with people within our own social circle. Let’s take a closer look at this.
Talking to strangers makes us more productive
Sheen S. Levine, a professor at Singapore Management University, finds that one of the things that often gives companies a competitive edge is not just the accumulation of knowledge. It is also the use of performative connections. This involves the following: spontaneous communication between colleagues who do not know each other at all. Important knowledge is shared here without expecting anything in return.
According to Elizabeth Dunn, a psychologist at the University of British Colombia, talking to strangers improves our subjective well-being. This directly affects our productivity. When we talk to strangers and they listen to us, it helps to strengthen our identity. This makes us feel like we can make a valuable contribution: that someone is paying attention and appreciating us.
We prefer to talk to strangers because they don’t expect anything from us
We probably prefer to talk to strangers because they see us as we are, not how they want us to be. Talking to people we already have a personal relationship with affects our emotional state — in a good way when it comes to a healthy relationship. Even so, to manage our feelings of irritation and anger, talking to strangers is more effective.
Most of us behave in one of two ways when we are in a bad mood. We lash out at others within our social circle because we know what we can get away with. The alternative is that when we talk to strangers, for example someone we meet on the street, we behave more friendly and polite.
Emotional Switch
A CBS News article called Talking To Strangers Can Boost Your Happiness Level ( Talking to Strangers can Luck Level Increase ) inspired the University of British Columbia professor Elizabeth Dunn for an experiment about to perform. She found that when people talk to strangers, they behave a lot more pleasantly than they do around people they feel comfortable with. This contributed to improving or reinforcing their emotional state. It also made them feel part of a community.
So talking to strangers serves as an emotional switch. It helps us maintain emotional distance so that we can better regulate our feelings. This allows us to look at the situation from a different perspective.
As we can see , talking to strangers has a number of psychological health benefits. Not only does it make us feel like we are socially entrenched, but it makes us feel better and more valuable. It also gives us a good chance to improve our social skills, bond with others and make us feel part of the community.
