Strangers, maybe just friends you've never met

Those small interactions you have with strangers have quite a few hidden benefits! A Happier Year is now available — an illustrated calendar with 366 science-based actions. Use the code "happycastlistener" for 10% off at checkout on ahappieryear.com [00:42] Talk to strangers on your commute, it'll make you happier [07:15] Little social interactions make us happier [09:19] Introverts still need to talk [11:45] Affective forecasting, the reason we don't think we'll enjoy eating spaghetti [13:28] Smile at strangers, it makes them feel included [14:18] Put your phone down, you'll smile more References Epley, N., & Schroeder, J. (2014). Mistakenly Seeking Solitude, Journal of Experimental Psychology, 143 (5), 1980–1999. Sandstrom, G. M., & Dunn, E. W. (2014). Is Efficiency Overrated?: Minimal Social Interactions Lead to Belonging and Positive Affect, Social Psychological and Personality Science, 5 (4), 437–442. Zelenski, J. M., Whelan, D. C., Nealis, L. J., Besner, C. M., Santoro, M. S., & Wynn, J. E. (2013). Personality and Affective Forecasting : Trait Introverts Underpredict the Hedonic Benefits of Acting Extraverted, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 104 (6), 1092–1108. Wesselmann, E. D., Cardoso, F. D., Slater, S., & Williams, K. D. (2012). To Be Looked at as Though Air : Civil Attention Matters. Psychological Science , 23 (2) 166 –168. Kushlev, K., Hunter, J. F., Proulx, J., Pressman, S. D., & Dunn, E. (2019). Computers in Human Behavior Smartphones reduce smiles between strangers. Computers in Human Behavior , 91 , 12–16. Huge thanks to Ashley for suggesting this week's topic! :)

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Strangers, maybe just friends you've never met is an episode from Happycast: The Science of Happiness by Trina Kushnerik.

This episode is 16:07 long.

This episode was published on Oct 2, 2019.

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