![]() Put it away and you easily remove that barrier, she says. You've got to interact with them anyway, so you might as well make an effort to turn it into a friendly exchange.Īnd be mindful that using your smartphone sends a signal that you're not interested in interacting with the people around you. Start with folks like the cashier in a grocery store or the barista at your local coffee shop, Dunn says. "It takes very little to acknowledge somebody's existence," Williams says. So, how can we dodge the risks of loneliness and stop short-changing our own happiness? Those that had been "looked through" felt even more disconnected than the control group. "Just that brief acknowledgment, that brief glance - with or without a smile - made them at least temporarily feel more socially connected," Williams says. ![]() Even brief eye contact increased people's sense of inclusion and belonging. Kipling Williams, a Purdue University psychologist, studied how people felt when a young woman walked by them and either made eye contact, made eye contact while smiling, or completely ignored them. The Germans even have a term for it - wie Luft behandeln, which means "to be looked at as though air." No one likes feeling invisible when someone walks past. If striking up small talk with a stranger sounds daunting, you might be relieved to hear that even something as simple as making eye contact offers benefits. But when we do talk to each other, those social interactions with strangers tend to be both less awkward and more enjoyable than most people predict. It is fear that the person sitting next to us won't enjoy talking to us that makes us keep to ourselves, Epley found. But a body of research has shown that we might just be short-changing our own happiness by ignoring opportunities to connect with the people around us. A recent study found that phones can keep us from even exchanging brief smiles with people we meet in public places. And smartphones make it easier than ever to do that. Many of us tend to do just about anything to avoid conversation or even eye contact with strangers. If your answer was B, you're like far too many of us, eyes glued to our phones, attention focused on the digital world. As the elevator begins its ascent, you realize it's just you and one other person taking this ride. The doors open wide, you enter, and they close behind you. Even small positive experiences - chatting with a stranger in an elevator - can make a difference. The mood boost of talking to strangers may seem fleeting, but the research on well-being, scientists say, suggests that a happy life is made up of a high frequency of positive events.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |