It’s good to talk’, so some people say. When I commute into London, there are certainly plenty of people conversing on their mobile phones – sometimes too loudly – discussing and sharing personal details with a friend. For me, it’s strange that they talk as though the person is sitting next to them, when they don’t even acknowledge the person who is actually sitting beside them.
有人说，说话真好。当我通勤到伦敦时，肯定有很多人用手机聊天——有时声音太大——与朋友讨论和分享个人信息。对我来说，奇怪的是，当他们甚至不承认坐在他们旁边的人时，他们说话的样子就好像坐在他们身边。
Many of us spend part of each day surrounded by strangers, whether on our daily commute, or sitting in a park or a cafe. But most of them remain just that – strangers. However, new evidence has shown that plucking up the courage to strike up a conversation might be good for our health.
我们中的许多人每天都有一部分时间被陌生人包围，无论是在日常通勤中，还是坐在公园或咖啡馆里。但他们中的大多数仍然只是陌生人。然而，新的证据表明，鼓起勇气开始谈话可能对我们的健康有益。
Nicholas Epley from the University of Chicago and Juliana Schroeder from the University of California are behavioural scientists. They looked at this silent relationship and whether solitude is a more positive experience than interacting with strangers, or if people misunderstand the consequences of distant social connections. They found that many people feel uncomfortable and intimidated talking to others and their research suggested that when we make an initial conversation “we consistently underestimate how much a new person likes us.” It seems we carry a negative voice in our head telling us all the things that could go wrong and why someone wouldn’t want to converse with us.
芝加哥大学的Nicholas Epley和加州大学的Juliana Schroeder是行为科学家。他们研究了这种无声的关系，以及孤独是否比与陌生人互动更积极，或者人们是否误解了遥远社会关系的后果。他们发现，许多人在与他人交谈时会感到不舒服和害怕，他们的研究表明，当我们进行初次谈话时，“我们总是低估一个陌生人对我们的喜欢程度。”似乎我们脑海中有一个消极的声音，告诉我们所有可能出错的事情，以及为什么有人不想和我们交谈。
Their research involved an experiment with a group of Chicago commuters and found that “every participant in our experiment who actually tried to talk to a stranger found the person sitting next to them was happy to chat.” From this and other research, the conclusion is that connecting with strangers is surprisingly pleasant and it has a positive impact on our wellbeing. Gillian Sandstrom, a social psychologist from Essex University in the UK, told the BBC that “people are in a better mood after they reach out and have a conversation, however minimal.” It’s true that talking can make you feel happier and happiness can lead to better mental health.
他们的研究涉及一项针对芝加哥一组通勤者的实验，发现“我们实验中的每一个真正试图与陌生人交谈的参与者都发现坐在他们旁边的人很乐意聊天。”从这项研究和其他研究中得出的结论是，与陌生人交往令人惊讶地愉快，对我们的健康有积极的影响。英国埃塞克斯大学的社会心理学家Gillian Sandstrom告诉英国广播公司，“人们在主动接触并交谈后心情会更好，无论多么短暂。”的确，交谈会让你感觉更快乐，快乐会带来更好的心理健康。
However, if you’re an introvert, the thought of speaking to someone new might make you anxious. But the American research found “both extroverts and introverts are happier when they are asked to behave in an extroverted manner.” So maybe, if you’re a loner, it’s time to come out of your shell and make some small talk with a stranger – it could be the beginning of a new friendship.
然而，如果你是一个内向的人，一想到要和新的人说话，你可能会感到焦虑。但美国的研究发现，“当外向者和内向者被要求以外向的方式行事时，他们都会更快乐。”所以，也许，如果你是一个孤独的人，是时候走出你的外壳，和一个陌生人闲聊了——这可能是一段新友谊的开始。