What is Social Experience and How Crucial It is for Us

All of us interact with other humans around us daily, in one way or another. We talk with them, eat with them, and pray in a worship place with them. We entertain in a movie hall, club or disco with them. We buy and sell things with other humans. We play sports with them.

We engage with other humans subtly or we have deep conversations with them like our family and friends.

So whenever we interact with human(s) in a social condition, we’re having Social Experiences. These social experiences can be good or bad depending on how we behave or act with each other in a social atmosphere.

Social experience helps us learn to relate, empathize, and communicate effectively.

How we take our emotions and others’ emotions. What words we use and what others use. What meaning others derive from your words and actions, and what meaning you derive from others’ words and actions.

Even a child learns about life from the social experiences that they are having. A child understands that she has done something wrong if she throws something at her parents and the way they look at her. Next time she would be careful.

Why is Social Experience So Crucial?

Social Experience Helps Us Grow Emotionally

What do we do when we feel sad or excited? We share such feelings with our loved ones or a friend. For example, try to recall a situation where you were distressed about a situation. You may have shared it with your friend or a person you trusted. Did you feel comfortable when they listen to you?

That’s social experience helping you grow emotionally.

Let’s take another example where you are dealing with a difficult coworker. Such social experiences force you to practice patience. You work on controlling your emotions and dealing with the situation strategically.

It Builds Our Confidence and Communication

How did you feel on your first day at a new school or a new job? Anxious or scared, wasn’t it? But it vanished when you interacted with some individuals there and your confidence built up. Over time, you became more and more comfortable speaking your mind clearly.

Who do you think would find it challenging to even start a simple conversation? A person who frequently interacts with people from different backgrounds or a person who rarely interacts socially?

You know the answer and it shows clearly how social experience builds our confidence and communication skills significantly.

Social Experience Teaches Valuable Life Lessons

Social experiences teach us essential and valuable life skills. You can’t learn skills like patience, empathy, and cooperation without social experiences.

Have you ever fought with a friend and made up later? That’s social experience where you learn how to handle disagreements constructively. Such incidents teach you to compromise and understand other other people’s points of view.

Let’s take an example: Consider a scenario where two teammates are working on a project. Later on they disagree on the project’s direction. After arguing for sometimes they understand that it is not taking them anywhere. So they discuss their viewpoints with calm and respect. This leads them to agree on a solution which will benefit the project. This social experience teaches them how to cooperate and effectively resolve a conflict.

On the other hand, think of a person who constantly avoids social interactions and arguments. Such a person struggles to resolve conflicts when they arise.

It Boosts Our Mental Health

Social experiences improve our mental health when we interact with other people regularly. When we go out and meet people, our feelings of loneliness disappear. Like it happens when we meet our best friends or family members. Our moods uplift and we feel relaxed and happy. Don’t we?

In contrast, when a person goes through a period of prolonged loneliness, it can severely affect their mental health. Such individuals experience chronic sadness and a persistent sense of hopelessness.

That’s why we need to have regular social interactions. They help us to manage our emotions better. We feel happy, motivated, and optimistic.

It Enhances Our Problem-Solving Skills

Maybe you have noticed that some people solve tricky problems effortlessly, while others get stuck over the simple ones. Why does it happen?

It’s not about IQ or how qualified someone is. Many times, it’s about social experience. Yes, your ability to chat, argue, collaborate, and empathize with others secretly sharpen your problem-solving skills every day.

Let’s take an example: You are working on a programming project and a difficult bug has been bothering you for some time. As you are not able to find the solution yourself, you decide to discuss it with your colleagues.

While discussing you notice that they are giving you fresh viewpoints that you hadn’t considered. Those viewpoints open your mind and help you reach a better solution faster.

On the other hand, if you rely only on your perspective would you be able to get such benefits? Probably not.

Furthermore, social interactions help us sharpen critical thinking when we engage in debates and group discussions. We learn to evaluate the arguments of different individuals and see if our logic is valid. It enhances our decision-making skills and better equips us to tackle complex challenges independently as well.

Social Experience Creates Stronger Communities

You must have experienced some communities in your country or in another country where people are welcoming and supportive. You notice that people there genuinely look out for each other. It feels like magic.

But it’s not really magic, this result is because of what they have learned from their shared social experiences.

Let’s take an example: Imagine you are living in a neighborhood where people regularly organize cleanup drives. Such events are important because they help people connect as well as maintain the cleanliness in the area. Everyone who takes part in it feels like they are part of a supportive community.

On the other hand, think of a neighborhood where people hardly interact with each other. How would you feel in such communities? Cold and disconnected, right?

That’s why active social engagement in necessary in creating healthy and vibrant communities. From regular interactions, we learn to trust others and better cooperation skills.

What is the Impact of Lack of Social Experiences?

Remember what many people felt during the COVID-19 lockdown? People reported emotional struggles and mental health challenges. Why? Because they got separated from their family and friends, social interactions were at a minimum.

Let’s take an example of a student who moves to a new city. He struggles to make friends because he hardly knows anyone there. Due to a lack of social interactions, he starts feeling lonely and anxious.

Similarly, this happens with elderly people who live alone without regular social connections. It impacts their emotional and mental health significantly.

So, social interaction is not just nice to have—it’s essential for our emotional and mental well-being.

Simple Ways to Improve Your Social Experiences

If you want to improve your social life, it’s not that hard. Just see what steps you can take as suggested here:

1. Join Clubs or Groups

Want to meet new people without awkward small talk? Join a club or a group—it is the best thing.

Like, if you love reading, join a book club. If you are into fitness, sign up for a local gym or yoga class. If you feel like doing community service, volunteer for a cause that matters to you.

The beauty of joining groups like these is that you instantly have something in common with everyone there. No icebreakers are needed, everyone in a group is there for the same reason. And when you naturally enjoy what you’re doing, you feel comfortable and conversations flow so much easier.

2. Be open and Approachable

The first thing that you can do to be more open is, smile more. A simple smile along with something like, “How’s it going?” can go a long way. Most people are waiting for someone else to start first, and you can be that person.

Don’t hold back in giving genuine compliments to someone. Hold the door open for others. If you are waiting in a line, strike up a light chat with a person ahead or behind you.

The basic idea is that you don’t need to overthink it—just little gestures here and there. People do reciprocate when they see that the person in front of them is not a snob but a warm, open, and friendly person.

3. Listen Like You Actually Care

Listening to someone else is underrated. Everyone just focuses on what they are going to say next instead of really listening to what the person in front of them is saying. Communication works only when it is two ways—you speak and the other person listens or the other person speaks and you listen.

So during a conversation, don’t look at your phone. Make eye contact and your body language should be friendly like you are genuinely interested in what they are saying. Nod wherever required. Ask questions about what they are saying.

It sounds basic, but trust me many people don’t actively listen to others. If you look around you, you can notice such people everywhere.

Don’t you feel bad if you are talking but the other person is not listening to you?

4. Be the One Who Reaches Out

Here’s something I’ve learned: if you’re always waiting for someone else to text first, invite you out, or plan something—you might be waiting forever.

Take the lead! Invite a friend to grab a coffee. Plan a movie night to watch a favorite movie.

People don’t forget us. It’s just they get busy in their lives. They become distracted by many things and get caught up in their routines. But, when you take initiative, the person understands that you value the relationship. And most people appreciate such gestures more than you think. Maybe, next time they reach you first.

5. Keep Showing Up

If you want to build strong social connections, you should understand that it’s not a one-time thing. It requires continuous efforts.

Think of maintaining a relationship like tending to a garden. You water it a little bit every week. Because you know that over time something beautiful will grow.

It doesn’t take much time to check in with your friends regularly. Ask them if everything is fine in their lives or if they need you in some way. If your friend achieves something, celebrate it. If they are going through any tough time, be there. Don’t disappear when your life gets hectic.

Final thoughts

As we have discussed here, social experiences are mostly beneficial. But it is also important to understand that not every experience is positive, you can experience bad ones too.

We have good social experiences with our supportive friends and family members. At work, we have good social experiences when there are lovely and helpful peers. Such good social experiences boost our confidence and emotional well-being.

On the other hand, we face negative social experiences when someone bullies us or says bad things about us. A toxic relationship is also a good example of a bad social experience. Such bad experiences can harm our self-esteem and mental health.

What you can do is to stay away from situations or people where you can have bad social experiences. And focus on where you can have good social experiences. If you still get caught in some bad social experiences, learn your lessons from them and move on. Next time, you will be better prepared to avoid them.

Furthermore, I would like to reiterate that social experiences shape our personalities and influence our mental and emotional health. Keep learning invaluable life lessons from them.

So, go out there, connect meaningfully, and remember: every interaction counts and contributes to who we become.