Building Relationships is Sorta Like Winning in the Stock Market

Why relational diversity is important and the research that backs that up

Author

Chris Miller
July 04, 2023

An illustration of a talking bubble with the text "Social Fitness Lab" and the text "Build Better Relationships, Live a Better Life," written inside of it.

Read Time: 3 minutes

Hello! & here’s why you should try to talk to at least ONE stranger today (be smart about it tho).

Today is short - here’s what we got:

💡 what is relational diversity? & why does it matter?

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💡 The importance of relational diversity

Photo by Omar Albeik on Unsplash

How many categories of people do you interact with on a daily basis?

That’s a weird question. Let me back up by explaining what I mean by categories. Here are a few different categories of people:

  • coworker

  • stranger

  • family member

  • romantic partner

  • acquaintance

  • friend

  • best friend

I’m sure there are some that I’m missing, but you get the gist.

Now, I’ll go back to the original question. On an average day, how many of these categories are you interacting with?

Recent research is showing us that the higher number of categories you interact with, the better off you feel! I’m not lying - you can read the research here.

Assessing the social interactions and happiness of over 50,000 people reveals that interacting with a more diverse set of relationship types predicts higher well-being.

I always thought it was just me when I recognized I felt better after talking to a stranger, but this study tells me that I’m not alone!

So take this as an encouragement to go out there and talk to as many categories as you can, EACH DAY! I think this will be a great goal to have to improve your ability to connect with those around you, but it will also be a great way to become a better communicator!

Go get ‘em, 🐯!

👨‍💻 I Got You Covered!

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See you next time!

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