On our relationship and interaction with strangers

We associate the feeling of otherness with anything “strange”. And a stranger is the personification of that otherness. A stranger is someone we associate neither our future nor has he been a part of our past. He might or might not stay forever. But he has the power of going away completely. Results from Zick Rubin’s experiments about self-disclosure suggested and supported Simmel’s theory that “people sometimes find it easier to disclose themselves to “passing strangers” whom they will never see again than to friends or acquaintances. With the passing stranger, there may be feelings of invulnerability and unaccountability which have the potential of increasing openness.” [Rubin, Zick. “Disclosing oneself to a stranger: Reciprocity and its limits.” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 11, no. 3 (1975): 233–260.]

A stranger to being completely unaware of your past deeds or misdeeds and plans gives you a clean slate to write on. It allows for personal disclosures and incites a feeling of invulnerability.

In Georg Simmel’s famous essay ‘the stranger’, he stresses the objectivity of stranger. He explains that “objectivity does not simply involve passivity and detachment” and how in Italian cities judges were called from outside, as the stranger is not connected to anyone and can be trusted for impartial judgement. [Simmel, Georg. “The Stranger.” Social theory: The multicultural and classic readings 4 (1908).]

“Interaction with a stranger is definitely of a specific kind and not as one with a close friend. How you present yourself to the other is what is called self-disclosure. As self-identity is to be exhibited and presented to others to construct social relations; one inevitably gets involved in activities of self-disclosure, ―the process of making the self-known to others.” [Liu, Jingqi. “The intimate stranger on your couch: An analysis of motivation, presentation and trust through Couchsurfing.” (2012).]

Well-exhibited self-identity becomes vital in case of online networks such as Couchsurfing. “To what extent does one‘s profile presentation influence the others‘ decision of placing trust in them.” Couchsurfing allows people from all over the world, strangers to one another to escape “their immediate proximity, consuming the stories from interesting strangers from other environments to meet their needs for intimate interactions and personal growth.”

Relationships and interactions with strangers, however, short-term have a lot to offer in terms of one’s growth and pleasure of a ‘strange’ kind.