Meaningful Reflections: The benefits of greeting strangers 

By Kim Crawford Meeks
Spiritual Health & Counseling Manager

Driving through my neighborhood last week, I received an incredible welcome greeting. There was a mom walking with a stroller and her little boy, about 3 years old, trying to keep up with her. The little boy stopped when he saw my car, smiled, and waved excitedly and intentionally. It was as if I were Santa Claus bringing his most treasured Christmas wish.  

Of course, this made me smile, the kind of smile that fills your heart with joy and makes an imprint on that moment that you never forget. Even though I would never have guessed the little boy’s excitement could grow, it did. When I waved back, he jumped up and down and pointed to me as he told his mom that I returned the greeting. What a “welcome home” I received that evening!  

A study conducted by a team of psychologists at Sabanci University in Turkey and the University of Sussex in the U.K. found the following: 

“People simply saying ‘hello’ to strangers they encounter can lead to increased life satisfaction. In their study, reported in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, the group queried two large groups of people regarding their encounters with strangers and how they graded their own level of life satisfaction. Isolation, the team suggests, is leaving people less happy than in days past when strangers spoke freely with one another.  

“For this study, the researchers sent out and received back questionnaires asking people first in Turkey, then the U.K., about recent momentary interactions, or even conversations, with strangers. They also asked each respondent to rate their level of life satisfaction or general happiness levels. In the first study, the researchers received 3,266 replies and in the second, 60,141. The research team found a trend: Those who reported having momentary interactions with strangers, or conversations with them, tended to report higher levels of life satisfaction or happiness as compared to those who kept to themselves and avoided talking to strangers.”  

The beauty of greeting a stranger and offering a smile and a word of kindness is that while you boost your own happiness levels, you could also make a new friend. 

Learn more about Spiritual Health and Counseling at USA Health. Patients, family members, and USA Health associates are encouraged to call the Meaningful Reflections Line at 251-445-9016 for a daily recorded word of encouragement.