IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jhappi/v22y2021i4d10.1007_s10902-020-00298-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Minimal Social Interactions with Strangers Predict Greater Subjective Well-Being

Author

Listed:
  • Gul Gunaydin

    (Sabanci University)

  • Hazal Oztekin

    (Bilkent University)

  • Deniz Hazal Karabulut

    (Bilkent University)

  • Selin Salman-Engin

    (Bilkent University)

Abstract

Past empirical work has repeatedly revealed that positive social interactions including expressing gratitude and socializing are associated with greater happiness. However, this work predominantly focused on prolonged interactions with close relationship partners. Only a few studies demonstrated hedonic benefits of forming social connections with strangers. The present research investigated whether minimal social interactions with strangers—just taking a moment to greet, thank, and express good wishes to strangers—contribute to happiness of individuals who initiate these interactions. Study 1 (N = 856) provided correlational evidence that commuters who reported engaging in minimal positive social interactions with shuttle drivers experienced greater subjective well-being (life satisfaction and positive affect). Moreover, hedonic benefits of positive social interactions went beyond relatively more neutral social interactions, Big-Five personality factors, and age, speaking to the robustness of the effect. Study 2 (N = 265) provided experimental evidence that commuters who greeted, thanked, or expressed good wishes to shuttle drivers experienced greater momentary positive affect than those who did not speak with drivers. These findings add to the burgeoning literature on hedonic benefits of interacting with strangers by showing that even very minimal social interactions with strangers contribute to subjective well-being in everyday life.

Suggested Citation

  • Gul Gunaydin & Hazal Oztekin & Deniz Hazal Karabulut & Selin Salman-Engin, 2021. "Minimal Social Interactions with Strangers Predict Greater Subjective Well-Being," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 1839-1853, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:22:y:2021:i:4:d:10.1007_s10902-020-00298-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-020-00298-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10902-020-00298-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10902-020-00298-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Keiko Otake & Satoshi Shimai & Junko Tanaka-Matsumi & Kanako Otsui & Barbara Fredrickson, 2006. "Happy People Become Happier through Kindness: A Counting Kindnesses Intervention," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 7(3), pages 361-375, September.
    2. Mithat Durak & Emre Senol-Durak & Tulin Gencoz, 2010. "Psychometric Properties of the Satisfaction with Life Scale among Turkish University Students, Correctional Officers, and Elderly Adults," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 99(3), pages 413-429, December.
    3. Fang Chen & Yiming Jing & Adele Hayes & Jeong Lee, 2013. "Two Concepts or Two Approaches? A Bifactor Analysis of Psychological and Subjective Well-Being," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 1033-1068, June.
    4. Myriam Mongrain & Jacqueline Chin & Leah Shapira, 2011. "Practicing Compassion Increases Happiness and Self-Esteem," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 12(6), pages 963-981, December.
    5. Deniz Bayraktaroglu & Gul Gunaydin & Emre Selcuk & Anthony D. Ong, 2019. "A Daily Diary Investigation of the Link Between Television Watching and Positive Affect," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 1089-1101, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Peng, Jiamin & Yang, Xiaoyun & Poon, Patrick & Xie, Lishan, 2022. "Enhancing users' well-being in virtual medical tourism communities: A configurational analysis of users’ interaction characteristics and social support," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bedriye Alıcı & Gürcan Seçim, 2020. "The Psychometric Properties of the Turkish Version of the Riverside Life Satisfaction Scale–Adult Form," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(4), pages 21582440209, December.
    2. Carmela A White & Bob Uttl & Mark D Holder, 2019. "Meta-analyses of positive psychology interventions: The effects are much smaller than previously reported," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(5), pages 1-48, May.
    3. Andrew Howell & Karen Buro, 2015. "Measuring and Predicting Student Well-Being: Further Evidence in Support of the Flourishing Scale and the Scale of Positive and Negative Experiences," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 121(3), pages 903-915, April.
    4. Selda Koydemir & Aslı Bugay Sökmez & Astrid Schütz, 2021. "A Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Randomized Controlled Positive Psychological Interventions on Subjective and Psychological Well-Being," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 16(3), pages 1145-1185, June.
    5. Holli-Anne Passmore & Ying Yang & Sarena Sabine, 2022. "An Extended Replication Study of the Well-Being Intervention, the Noticing Nature Intervention (NNI)," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(6), pages 2663-2683, August.
    6. Don C. Zhang & Tyler L. Renshaw, 2020. "Personality and College Student Subjective Wellbeing: A Domain-Specific Approach," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 997-1014, March.
    7. R. A. Burns, 2020. "Age-Related Differences in the Factor Structure of Multiple Wellbeing Indicators in a Large Multinational European Survey," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 37-52, January.
    8. Brian D. Schwartz & Alexis Horst & Jenifer A. Fisher & Nicole Michels & Lon J. Van Winkle, 2020. "Fostering Empathy, Implicit Bias Mitigation, and Compassionate Behavior in a Medical Humanities Course," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-15, March.
    9. Schippers, M.C., 2017. "IKIGAI: Reflection on Life Goals Optimizes Performance and Happiness," ERIM Inaugural Address Series Research in Management EIA-2017-070-LIS, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam..
    10. Sara Erreygers & Heidi Vandebosch & Ivana Vranjes & Elfi Baillien & Hans Witte, 2019. "Feel Good, Do Good Online? Spillover and Crossover Effects of Happiness on Adolescents’ Online Prosocial Behavior," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 1241-1258, April.
    11. N. Rickard & D. Vella-Brodrick, 2014. "Changes in Well-Being: Complementing a Psychosocial Approach with Neurobiological Insights," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 117(2), pages 437-457, June.
    12. Muhammad Nadim & Mueen Aizaz Zafar, 2021. "Evaluation of Nurses’ Job Engagement as an Outcome of Experienced Compassion in the Workplace, Using the Lens of Affective Event Theory," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(4), pages 21582440211, November.
    13. Ádám Stefkovics & Endre Sik, 2022. "What Drives Happiness? The Interviewer’s Happiness," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(6), pages 2745-2762, August.
    14. Aiste Dirzyte, 2023. "Exploring the Nexus between Conspiracy Beliefs and Creativity, Attitudes toward People, and Psychological Wellbeing: Insights from the 10th European Social Survey," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-21, November.
    15. L. Lambert & H.-A. Passmore & N. Scull & I. Al Sabah & R. Hussain, 2019. "Wellbeing Matters in Kuwait: The Alnowair’s Bareec Education Initiative," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 143(2), pages 741-763, June.
    16. Angela Sorgente & Casey J. Totenhagen & Margherita Lanz, 2022. "The Use of the Intensive Longitudinal Methods to Study Financial Well-Being: A Scoping Review and Future Research Agenda," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 333-358, January.
    17. Jacolyn Norrish & Dianne Vella-Brodrick, 2008. "Is the Study of Happiness a Worthy Scientific Pursuit?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 87(3), pages 393-407, July.
    18. Elif Aysimi Duman, 2020. "Individual Differences in Risk-Taking Preference of Undergraduate Students," Bogazici Journal, Review of Social, Economic and Administrative Studies, Bogazici University, Department of Economics, vol. 34(2), pages 177-192.
    19. Sarinda Taengnoi, 2014. "Economic man and social woman: Determinants of immigrants' life satisfaction," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 34(3), pages 1530-1549.
    20. Alexis Horst & Brian D. Schwartz & Jenifer A. Fisher & Nicole Michels & Lon J. Van Winkle, 2019. "Selecting and Performing Service-Learning in a Team-Based Learning Format Fosters Dissonance, Reflective Capacity, Self-Examination, Bias Mitigation, and Compassionate Behavior in Prospective Medical ," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-18, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:22:y:2021:i:4:d:10.1007_s10902-020-00298-6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.