In the 21st century, we are facing the era of loneliness. Every time relations are less close and we tend to share less with other people .It is clear that society is changing and with It is our way of relating to each other.According to a survey recently conducted in the United States, more than half of the inhabitants of this country qualify as loners.And we no longer talk about talking to strangers in public spaces.That can even be labeled as behavior strange.
Well, in today's article we want to encourage you to put aside this antisocial habit.We are sure that your emotional well-being and even your happiness will increase if you start talking to strangers.Don't you believe it? We give you some information.
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Why should you talk to strangers?
A study was recently conducted on talking with strangers with a group of people who traveled daily to Chicago by train.They were asked three actions to take during their train journey; They should try to start a conversation with a stranger, actively avoid contact with other people or behave naturally, as they usually did.Then they sent the researchers a questionnaire to evaluate the experience.
Those Answers were checked against the answers given by a second group of people who were asked to just imagine that they were engaging in conversation with a stranger, avoiding other people or traveling normally.
The results showed that Those travelers who had conversed with strangers in a real way had said they had a much more pleasant trip .However, those who had only imagined it had described the experience as uncomfortable.
"This pattern of results demonstrates a serious lack of understanding of the psychological consequences of social commitment"
write Nicholas Epley and Juliana Schroeder.In fact, the data is very significant, also taking into account the environment, since it has been shown that daily displacements are one of the worst scenarios for social relations.
Why do we usually choose to be alone?
Maybe we can think that we choose to be antisocial and not talk to strangers because of the memory of a bad encounter with a stranger, however that is not usually the real reason.
As part of study, the researchers asked travelers who participated in it, to imagine a positive conversation, a negative conversation and simply "a conversation" with a stranger.Travelers did not imagine the latter as especially negative.
Researchers have another hypothesis to explain why we chose not to speak with strangers on our journeys.They believe it is for fear of rejection.They are based on responses from Respondents who reported that they were interested in talking with strangers, but did not think they were reciprocal.If they had to assess the chances of engaging in a conversation, the statistic would say 50 to 50.
All those people who were worried about talking to strangers were the people who least spoke. The researchers asked people from the Midway airport taxi station.Those who usually used to talk to taxi drivers predicted that it would be fun to do so.On the contrary, those people who did not usually talk to taxi drivers believed that the experience would be very negative, even worse than loneliness, but when they tried, they took a g surprise rat.In a nutshell, the more you practice talking to strangers, the less fear you'll have to do it and the more fun it will be.
At this time you will be wondering: And what about what I has my mother said a lifetime of "don't talk to strangers"? Are there real dangers when talking with strangers? Actually, the only problem that the researchers who conducted the study recognized was social rejection, although we recognize that there may be other dangers. What can begin with a friendly approach to an unknown person, may end up diverting to harassment or, especially and unfortunately in the case of women, to a much more hostile territory.In these cases you must pay attention to your instinct and common sense.
It is also important to know how to decipher body language .If you have the slightest feeling that something is wrong or your instinct tells you that the situation is uncomfortable, get away.You don't have to force anything, let alone a conversation with someone you don't know. If someone doesn't do you feel comfortable, think that the world is full of strangers with whom you can start conversations and, who knows, someone can become a friend.
What do you think about talking to strangers? Have you ever practiced it? It is surely something much simpler for outgoing people than for introverted people.What group are you from? Do you consider yourself an open person? Tell us how you usually react to a stranger.We will be happy to read your comments!
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