How often do I encounter incidental social interaction?

Where and what times of day? What implications does this have in terms of urban design and public health? Research has shown that incidental social interactions, or casual, unplanned connections with others, contribute to an individual’s overall sense of belonging and community (Rajendran, 2016). In recording and analyzing where and when these types of events tend to arise, we may uncover useful information for urban design and planning. For example, considering a balance of public, private, and semi-private spaces in a city’s infrastructure in order to facilitate community, social capital, and public health.

Dataset and Variables

I collected my data using Google Sheets where I recorded the time of day, location, person, level of interaction, and overall resonance each time I encountered an incidental social interaction between the dates of March 9 and April 7. I created a scale of interactions which fit within the definition of an incidental interaction which is a brief, fleeting, or unplanned interaction. The scale included recognition, eye contact, smile, greeting, short exchange (such as buying a coffee), short conversation, conversation, extended conversation. I used a binary of positive or negative to record the overall resonance of the interactions. Positivity resonance is a momentary experience that occurs when two or more people have an interpersonal connection characterized by three features: (1) shared positive affect, (2) mutual care and concern, and (3) behavioral and biological synchrony (Fredrickson, 2013, 2016). Using this framework, I recorded whether the overall resonance of the interaction was positive or negative. I initially started out recording my moods but there were too many variables so I settled on the positive/negative binary. The times of day were defined as morning, afternoon, and evening and the location types were private, semi-public, and public. I used my personal discretion when choosing how to define the variables of each incident I recorded. Because these interactions are so fleeting it was difficult to record every single one I encountered. Therefore, there are gaps in this dataset but there is still information to be discovered in what was recorded.

Despite the reputation New York has gained for being dangerous or unwelcoming, my interactions on were primarily positive. Encountering brief moments of connection through smiles and greetings contributed to my sense of belonging across contexts.

The above tree map describes the amount of incidental interactions I encountered on each day of the week and in what type of location. I was surprised to find that more incidental interactions happened in the beginning of the week rather than at the end. Even though I technically have more social interaction on the weekends, those are planned and did not fit within my definition of incidental interactions. I also tend to have more energy in the beginning of the week and am perhaps more available for these interactions than towards the end of the week.

Most of the interactions were short exchanges such as a purchase at a coffee shop or short conversations such as chatting with a coworker or neighbor. I expected eye contact or greeting to be the largest proportion of interactions. Perhaps thats because the short conversations and exchanges I had felt more significant to me and therefore I recorded them more often. Or, the fleeting nature of eye contact, greetings, or recognizing someone are easier to forget and are missing more frequently from the dataset.

I was surprised to find coffee shops as one of the largest proportions of interactions. Stopping in a coffee shop before work or on the weekends is so routine in my life I didn’t even consider it’s impact until I began tracking it. I visit the same coffee shops often enough that a few of the baristas know my name and my order. When seeing one of the baristas I know, we often have a short conversation, such as complimenting a new haircut, or telling a story about a recent trip.

What can we learn?

An emerging theme from this dataset is the influence of common interests for organizing people into shared positive resonances and the importance of semi-public and public space to facilitate these connections. I share commonalities among the people in the bike lane, such as an interest in alternative transportation, an enjoyment for the weather, and a celebration of the use of bicycles. Similarly, the people who gather for a yoga class share an enjoyment of the practice and valuing of physical movement. It was interesting to see how small the proportion was for interactions encountered at work. I consciously try to keep firm boundaries with my work life to allow for more social interaction in other areas of my life and it seems to be reflected in this dataset. My social energy is primarily directed elsewhere in semi-private and public spaces which are also referred to as “third-spaces.” The concept of a third space was coined in the 1980’s by the urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg who argued that informal spaces outside of home or work are central to local democracy and community vitality (Oldenburg, 2008). The distance between my most significant third spaces, coffee shops, the yoga studio, and the pottery studio were all within walking distance either from my work or my home. This allowed me to engage in casual unplanned interactions before, during, or after work, helping to interrupt the “home-to-work-and-back-again shuttle” which lifted my mood and helped me to feel more connected to the communities around me (Oldenburg, 2008).

References

Rajendran, Lakshmi Priya. “Understanding identity and belonging through incidental spaces.”
Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers – Urban Design and Planning, vol. 169,
no. 4, Aug. 2016, pp. 165–174, https://doi.org/10.1680/jurdp.15.00028.

Ray Oldenburg. RSS. (2008). https://www.pps.org/article/roldenburg