Social psychologists say the reason a stranger’s rudeness can ruin your entire morning has nothing to do with sensitivity — the brain processes unexpected social hostility through the same threat pathway as physical danger, and the disproportionate response isn’t overreaction, it’s a system that evolved to treat rejection from the group as a survival-level event firing in a context where the stakes have changed but the wiring hasn’t
A barista was rude to me last Tuesday. Not dramatically rude, just dismissive. She interrupted me mid-order, sighed heavily when ...
