Behavioral psychologist Nick Epley joins me to discuss small talk with strangers, and how certain misconceptions keep us from saying hello more often or getting deeper into more meaningful conversations. If we can understand that we have “miscalibrated expectations” about others` interest and our own enjoyment, perhaps we can get over this reluctance to engage with strangers. We confront this with other potential barriers including introversion and technology. The stakes couldn`t be bigger. Improved social lives increase happiness and longevity and improved sociality could rebuild our frazzled societies.
Nicholas Epley is the John Templeton Keller Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science, and Director of the Center for Decision Research at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. We dig into his paper, co-written with Michael Kardas and Amit Kumar, “Overly Shallow? Miscalibrated Expectations Create a Barrier to Deeper Conversations” (2022) in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: Attitudes and Social Cognition, and his book Mindwise (2014).
Nick recommends... practice inspiration from the hilarious and addictive vlog “100 Days of Rejection” with Jia Jiang (2012), https://www.rejectiontherapy.com/100-days-of-rejection-therapy
