Weak-tie relationships can make your day 萍水相逢也很美！「弱連結」人際關係讓我們更快樂

Do you feel great buying breakfast from the same familiar face every day? Well, these kinds of encounters really can make your day!

Research shows that so-called weak-tie relationships can boost happiness and a sense of belonging, even if it is just in unimportant encounters like buying breakfast from the same people or chatting with a member in yoga class.

We have strong-tie relationships like close friends or family, but we also have weak-tie relationships of casual acquaintances. Experts say sometimes it is difficult to have a talk with close friends because those conversations often come with an emotional burden. But weak-tie conversations are less demanding.

友善讓你懂｜解說：

每天到熟悉早餐店向熟悉的臉孔買早餐，是否總會讓你覺得挺開心？沒錯，像這樣的人際相遇的確會讓人感到幸福。

研究發現，「弱連結」人際關係能夠增進我們的幸福感和歸屬感，就算那些弱連結來自於許多看似不太重要的萍水相逢，例如：每天向同一個老闆買早餐、上瑜伽課時跟旁邊的同學聊聊天等。

一般來說，親密的朋友、家人是我們的「強連結」人際關係，而許多點頭之交則屬於「弱連結」。專家指出，很多時候很難與強連結的親友輕鬆聊天，因為聊天內容往往會帶來情感負擔；相較之下，與弱連結的隨意交談反而很輕鬆，因為較不會讓人耗費心神。

輕鬆帶著走｜學習：

casual acquaintance 是「點頭之交」，也就是不屬於熟悉交友圈、但卻又會常常碰到的人，例如：常去的早餐店老闆、附近咖啡店的員工等。

例句：I think this is a serious relationship, not a causal acquaintance. 我認為這是一段認真的交友關係，而非僅是點頭之交而已。

本篇其他相關單字，介紹如下：

• encounter  n. 相遇、邂逅
• weak-tie relationship n. 弱連結
• strong-tie relationship n. 強連結
• boost v. 增進、強化
• emotional burden n. 情感負擔
• demanding adj. 耗費心神、要求嚴苛