This ties in so well with a piece I just wrote. There was an article that came out recently saying that 61% of US expat women over 55 leave Portugal within 18 months. Three of the five reasons given were directly linked to loneliness. Joining groups based on interests rather than nationalities creates a much stronger connection. Thank you for this!!
I understand how making new social connections can be one of the most challenging aspects to building a new life abroad.
There are language, cultural and experiential differences that are a lot to overcome.
Add in the fact that, as adults, making new friends just seems to be more difficult for some people.
There was an episode on the Hidden Brain podcast a few years ago where they discussed “the liking gap”. That is the gap between how much we think a new person likes us, versus how much they actually like us. Spoiler – they like us quite a bit more than we think they do!
We can be our own worst enemies when it comes to making new social connections.
This ties in so well with a piece I just wrote. There was an article that came out recently saying that 61% of US expat women over 55 leave Portugal within 18 months. Three of the five reasons given were directly linked to loneliness. Joining groups based on interests rather than nationalities creates a much stronger connection. Thank you for this!!
Thank you, Barbara!
I understand how making new social connections can be one of the most challenging aspects to building a new life abroad.
There are language, cultural and experiential differences that are a lot to overcome.
Add in the fact that, as adults, making new friends just seems to be more difficult for some people.
There was an episode on the Hidden Brain podcast a few years ago where they discussed “the liking gap”. That is the gap between how much we think a new person likes us, versus how much they actually like us. Spoiler – they like us quite a bit more than we think they do!
We can be our own worst enemies when it comes to making new social connections.
Here is that episode, if you are interested: https://www.hiddenbrain.org/podcast/mind-reading-how-others-see-you/
Thank you! It's weird how much we undermine ourselves. Silly us!