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Acting formal as a way to compensate for social skills

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NicholasName
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13 Jul 2014, 6:40 am

I've always been very formal but not as any sort of coping mechanism/strategy. It's just how I am.


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zer0netgain
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13 Jul 2014, 7:04 am

TallyMan wrote:
Absolutely! I've done this all my life and found it to generally be a good way of handling most situations. The down side is that people who you see every day start to think you are a bit aloof, cold or distant. They can take it as a personal insult that you don't want to interact with them in an informal way.


This is really the downside.

Formal behavior is a good technique...for formal situations. Adherence to formality trumps all those nagging social rules, but outside of formal situations, it's not all that helpful.



Phenom
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18 Jul 2014, 4:11 am

I have this BADD.....

I don't know but I just go on sorta autopilot. I guess this is how I have learned to cope, the only problem is I can't turn it off now.



NaturalProcess
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18 Jul 2014, 5:22 pm

Yes, I am very formal and reserved, although I have learned to relax it just a bit, nothing substantial.

Its the AS, and it does help me not make a fool of myself.

As for it being a hindrance to getting to know people? I'm sure it does.

Although experience has taught me that, small talk aside, most people have trouble relating to me and my experiences, and vice versa, so maybe that is not always a bad thing.