Vulnerability Towards Strangers
Was thinking about the phenomenon where people tend to open up much more towards fellow travelers who they are likely never to see again, and a sort of equation comes to mind:
Where v is vulnerability, t is trust, and f is familiarity.
People who we are familiar with also tend to have influence on our immediate environment, so we tend to show less vulnerability towards them. On the other hand, we'll probably never see that stranger we are travelling with again, so we are more comfortable being open.
However, if trust is high, being open is also typically less of an issue. After all, vulnerability is about increasing the possibility of getting harmed, and trust is knowing that you are less likely to be intentionally harmed.
There are all kinds of variables one could add to this, like one's innate sense of psychological security. But I kind of like this formation. It tells a lot about relationships without requiring you to know a lot about both people.
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Categorized under: #psychology