Fact of life: Commuting during rush hour sucks. Trains get cramped, buses and cars get stuck in traffic, you get frustrated. (Seriously, check out 10 things your commute does to your body.)
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But a recent study says there might be a really easy way to make your trips to and from work more pleasant: by talking to the person next to you. For the study, which comes out of the University of Chicago and is published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, researchers conducted nine different experiments, all designed to determine how people anticipate talks with strangers will go, why they feel that way, and what the actual results are for train, bus, and taxi riders. The researchers also took their investigation to a laboratory waiting room. “Overall, these experiments tested whether people are appropriately social in their everyday lives or perhaps not social enough for their own wellbeing,” wrote the study authors.
They found that people think that a quiet commute is the way to go for a more pleasant ride and that they often don’t start up a conversation with their neighboring commuters because they misjudge others’ interest in chatting. The real deal, though, is that neither of those theories holds—people who chat with strangers have a more positive trip.
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So go ahead and comment on the weather, the weekend, or the traffic to the person sitting next to you this evening—you could end up making your Friday a little happier. And if you don't take a mode of public transit (or if you just want more weekend joy), check out 11 tiny life changes that’ll bring you major bliss.
MORE: 9 Ways to Experience More Joy in Life
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