Social interaction is a fundamental need for human beings, without it comes depression and with it comes flourishing. Our need to connect with others can be no better told than a story I heard about when I was in the Army Reserve. During World War I on Christmas Day in 1914 soldiers put down their weapons, stopped fighting and came out of their trenches. The English and German soldiers were brought together by the spirit of Christmas; even playing a game of soccer. How strange that amidst a major war, mortal enemies were able to come together as friends for a time.
I think most people assume that it is only the time spent with our closest family and friends that contribute to our gutsy happiness. However, interesting research shows that it is also the daily interactions with strangers that count as well.
Studies show that people are happier when they have more social interactions in a day; in fact interactions with strangers or acquaintances were associated at least as highly with happiness as interactions with strong ties, such as family and close friends.
I recently read a study on this subject that I think is well worth sharing. Researchers have found that people who talk with strangers are actually happier than those who keep to themselves. In one study the researchers approached random commuters in a train station. One group of people were asked to talk to the stranger who sat down next to them on the train that morning and a second group were told to keep to themselves. At the end of the train ride, the researchers asked the commuters a simple question: were they happier, or less happy, when they had to chat up their seat mates? The commuters who talked to a stranger reported greater happiness than those who kept to themselves.
What is most interesting is that when the researchers asked the commuters in advance to predict how they would feel after talking to a stranger, the commuters thought they would be happier if they remained silent. They also said that they would find it difficult to start a conversation with strangers and they estimated that fewer than half of their fellow commuters would want to talk to them. But in fact, the opposite actually occurred. Not a single person reported having been ignored and the conversations were reported as being consistently pleasant.
