Psychologist Nicholas Epley researches how avoiding social interaction affects happiness
Research by psychologist Nicholas Epley examines whether avoiding uncomfortable social situations actually reduces human happiness.
Avoidance strategies backfire over time
People often cling to hope even when a situation appears hopeless. They push painful thoughts out of mind rather than confronting them directly. These coping mechanisms may spare pain in the moment but eventually make people much more miserable.
Relationships suffer from silence
Declining to chat with a talkative person on a plane avoids an obvious downside of boredom. However, doing this repeatedly prevents people from discovering unexpected benefits in social connection. The strategy intended to preserve happiness instead produces the opposite result.
Reported by one outlet
Only one outlet has published this. Nothing here has been checked against a second report, so read it as that outlet's account and follow the link below for the original.
Reported by
1 independent outlet. Headline as published. Links open the original report.