[cgs]

Along the same lines, I try to even just make brief eye contact with strangers after reading that it makes a difference, and recognizing it's something I appreciate when others do. From a recent NPR article [1]:

"Kipling Williams, a Purdue University psychologist, studied how people felt when a young woman walked by them and either made eye contact, made eye contact while smiling, or completely ignored them. Even brief eye contact increased people's sense of inclusion and belonging."

"Just that brief acknowledgment, that brief glance — with or without a smile — made them at least temporarily feel more socially connected," Williams says. And it works both ways. Those that had been "looked through" felt even more disconnected than the control group.

[1] https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/07/26/7442670...

[rabidrat]

Interestingly, I wonder how much different the results would be if it were a man making the eye contact and smiling.

[distant_hat]

Yes, it sounds like one of those low n p-hacked studies that would vanish if replicated.