Social events and planned exits

A small voice often whispers "An hour, no more" when entering a social event, a programmed exit reflex that has nothing to do with caprice. This behavior is linked to introversion, where individuals plan to discuss with the host, participate in activities, and then sneak away under the pretense of a last train.

Temporary mood lift and later fatigue

Researchers from the University of Helsinki followed 48 students for 12 days, with participants noting their behavior, mood, stress, and fatigue five times a day. Being talkative and sociable lifts mood temporarily but increases fatigue about three hours later.

Fatigue affects all personalities

This effect did not depend on personality, with both introverts and extroverts experiencing similar fatigue. Sointu Leikas notes that this fatigue remains modest and temporary, and no need to sulk about going out. A replication study among 74 people found the same trend, with fatigue appearing two to three hours later.

Safety behaviors in social anxiety

In clinical psychology, "safety behaviors" are small strategies that calm the fear of being judged, such as staying close to loved ones, monitoring one's phone, speaking little, or keeping an exit door. Dahye Kim and her colleagues from Chungbuk National University studied three types of these behaviors in people more or less socially anxious, in a study published in 2022 in Frontiers in Psychology.

Planning departure vs. disorder

In the very anxious group, avoidance and symptom control went hand in hand with more social anxiety. However, planning your departure does not mean suffering from a disorder. To test your own scenario, allowing yourself thirty more minutes can be a way to see. If the evening ends earlier than planned, that's fine: listening to your fatigue remains a form of self-compassion.