We can define social contacts as the ways that individuals establish social relationships and human associations. A conversation between two people, a handshake, a “good morning” or a medical consultation are examples of social contacts, which, depending on them, will result in social relationships and the degrees of intensity of these relationships.
Obviously, the relationships established between two people who are in a place to talk will be much more intense than those resulting from the conversation between a doctor and a patient in a medical consultation. Therefore, there are different types of social contacts.
Primary social contacts are characterized by being personal, direct and with a strong emotional influence. These are the first types of contacts that people establish, originating from the relationships between parents and children, siblings, friends, etc.
Secondary social contacts differ from primary ones in that they are calculated, rational and without emotional influences. When someone goes to buy bread, for example, they already know that there will be a seller there and that they will have to communicate with him. This communication, extremely rational, brief, calculated and without any emotional charge, is classified as a secondary social contact.
