To the social butterflies out there, talking to strangers may not be that awkward but for some of us, it could even be fearful.
Regardless of how sociable we are, most of us feel more comfortable talking to a close friend than a stranger. It is relaxed, familiar and we can be ourselves with them. With strangers, we tend to put in more effort to manage our impressions and it is interesting to note that there are hidden benefits to the effort we put in!
In the research Dunn et. al (2007), participants were asked to predict how pleasurable it would be to interact with their partner and a stranger of the opposite sex. They had a quick chat and rated how good they felt afterwards. From the results, people enjoyed talking to their romantic partner less than what they had predicted. They too had more fun talking to a stranger than they had predicted.
The researchers found that it all boils down to whether we are making an effort. When we take our friends and partners for granted, we do not make much of an effort to present ourselves but more effort tend to be put in when talking to unfamiliar people.
Also, in another study, participants were asked to put in more effort when interacting with their partners and it was found that their enjoyment actually improved!
With such results, it can be safe to conclude that when we predict how enjoyable we will be when talking to a stranger, we fail to factor in the extra effort made. Also, when we think of our partners, we fail to factor how lazy we may be.
With that being said, it may be exciting and fun to talk to strangers than we think and we should all try to put in more effort to maintain close relationships and make them more pleasurable!
Category(s):Mental Health in Asia
Source material from Psyblog
