Hi, NesQ listeners. We're off this week, so we're bringing you something special from the

NesQ Archive. It's a conversation between Angela and fellow psychologist Lori Santos who hosts a podcast called The Happiness Lab.

We originally published this episode back in 2021, but we think its themes are as relevant as ever as we ring in 2024.

Wishing you a happy new year and we'll be back next week with a brand new episode. I'm Lori Santos and you're listening to no stupid questions.

Today on the show, why do we mirror the accents and mannerisms of the people we meet?

Monkey A observes Monkey B, do something different with a banana. I don't know if that's stereotyping.

They do like bananas, totally true.

Also, why can happiness seem so elusive, even when things are going well?

Holy schmoly, this is the best life I could possibly living.

Why am I not a 10 out of 10 out of 10 on happiness.

I think you have the first question for me, correct?

I do.

And this comes from a listener named Sabika Chaban

who hails from Qatar and is a graduate student there.

This question is as follows.

I have a question about mimicking the mannerisms of people we meet, especially in our multicultural

environments. Often in conversations with people with very market accents different

from my own, I find my own accent taking on nuances of theirs or interjecting typical expressions

from their language culture.

Is this a typically observed behavior?

And on the flip side, are there many whose accents and mannerisms never change, regardless

of who they speak to, and a reason why some do and some don't?

...