social interaction
People engaging together
Social interaction is any exchange between people where they respond to each other's presence, words, or actions.
This covers everything from a brief nod to a stranger to deep conversation with a close friend.
The term appears frequently in psychology and sociology to describe how humans connect, communicate, and influence one another.
Children develop language skills through social interaction.
Someone lacking social interaction may feel isolated or lonely.
- listeningAttending to sound
- conversationExchange of spoken ideas
- body languageUnspoken physical expression
- dialogueSpoken exchange between parties
- face to faceIn someone's presence
mirroring · empathy · eye contact · reading the room · teamwork · cooperation · conflict resolution · rituals · etiquette · rapport · first impressions · nonverbal cues · customs · friendship · socialization · group dynamics · acquaintanceship · emotional intelligence
- child developmentbaby, toddler, newborn, infancy, milestones
- social developmentsocialization, friendship, belonging, sharing, turn-taking
- sociologysocialization, stratification, norms, society, class
- introvert careerslibrarian, archivist, programmer, coding, remote work
- constructivismPiaget, Jean Piaget, scaffolding, schema, equilibration
- drama therapypsychodrama, sociodrama, drama therapy, role play, role-playing
social interactionsolitude
State of being alone
isolation · seclusion · aloneness · loneliness · being alone
social interactionsocial withdrawal
Retreating from interpersonal contact
social isolation · antisocial behavior · reclusiveness · asociality · self-isolation
social interactionsilence
Total lack of sound
incommunicado · uncommunicativeness · radio silence · stonewalling · muteness
social, sociable, interaction, antisocial, socialize, interactive, socially, unsocial, sociability