Greeting Strangers can Boost Happiness
A group of psychologists from Sabanci University in Turkey, collaborating with a researcher from the University of Sussex in the U.K., discovered that individuals experiencing increased life satisfaction resulted from simply greeting strangers they came across.
Their study, published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, involved surveying two extensive groups of people about their interactions with strangers and self-assessments of life satisfaction.
Loneliness as a Public Health Crisis
Recently, the World Health Organization raised awareness about the global public health issue of loneliness, equating it to the negative impact of smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Psychologists attribute this loneliness to the prevalent isolation observed in many modern Western societies, where individuals tend to keep to themselves and primarily interact with familiar acquaintances.
This study explores the idea that contemporary isolation contributes to reduced happiness compared to times when strangers freely engaged in conversations. However, the researchers distributed questionnaires in Turkey and the U.K., gathering responses on recent interactions with strangers and participants’ self-assessed life satisfaction or happiness levels.
Survey Results Highlight a Clear Pattern
With 3,266 replies in the first study and 60,141 in the second, a consistent trend emerged: individuals engaging in momentary interactions or conversations with strangers reported higher life satisfaction and happiness than those who kept to themselves.
To conclude, the research team suggests that regular interactions with strangers foster a sense of community belonging, providing individuals with a feeling of acceptance and value within their immediate surroundings. Previous studies have indicated that such feelings contribute to life satisfaction and also alleviate loneliness—a significant health concern highlighted by the World Health Organization.
Read the original article on: Medical X Press
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