The 3 Biggest Fears That Hold People Back From Chatting a Stranger, According to Researchers
It turns out these fears are wildly overblown
Since the pandemic broke out, many people have been understandably less open to the idea of sparking a conversation with a stranger.
However, well before mandatory masks and social distancing became commonplace, many people had reasons for skipping that convo with a stranger.
My mind races back to my teenage days, days when you couldn’t find a carrot big enough to entice me into talking with a stranger. No way! It took me years to get that under control. Barely. But I digress.
I understand you can’t just start conversations in some places, say a theater, a bank, or a hospital. And sometimes, some people wear expressions that warn you to stay away for your own good.
But none of that stopped these researchers from investigating what holds people back from initiating a harmless conversation with a stranger.
Researchers Gilliam M. Sandstrom of the Department of Psychology at the University of Essex and Erica J. Boothby of the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, dug deeper and unearthed the main fears that hold us back from talking to strangers.
