Forget the “Don’t talk to strangers” maxim you learned as a kid: brief, pleasant exchanges with people you don’t know well (or at all) can enhance your happiness, mood, energy, and overall well-being. That’s because small talk often promotes learning, expands your worldview, and contributes to a sense of belonging.
You can maximize these benefits by chatting up a wide range of people, research suggests. Conversing with your colleagues, barista, Uber driver, and the person surveying the ice cream aisle with you builds what’s called relational diversity, which is a unique predictor of well-being.
Despite the benefits, many of us hate small talk. We often assume that the people around us aren’t interested or won’t like us—but research indicates that we tend to underestimate how much our conversation partners enjoy…
