The social psychologist Gillian Sandstrom is an expert in social interactions and conversations. She and Elizabeth Dunn ran an experiment in 2014 that found many people often avoid chats with grocery store clerks and baristas because they’re in a hurry. And yet, we enjoy a lot of benefits if we take a minute to strike up those conversations. “In the current study,” wrote Sandstrom and Dunn, “people who had a social interaction with a barista (i.e., smiled, made eye contact, and had a brief conversation) experienced a more positive effect than people who were as efficient as possible.”
