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You're Probably Talking Too Long

0:05

Dread small talk at parties, back when such things existed? If so, a new study may shed light on why. 

0:12

It turns out almost everyone is lousy at knowing when to end a conversation. In most cases, people report the chats go on too long, say researchers. 

0:22

The first part of the study looked at 126 one-on-one conversations in a lab setting between strangers, after which 69% of participants say they wished things ended sooner.

0:34

Maybe more telling is that only 2% of those conversations—fewer than three of them—ended when both parties wished. As it turns out, people are rarely in sync on what their conversation partner wants.

0:45

They might keep talking because they think it's rude to bow out, or stop talking too soon for fear that they're boring their partner. Indeed, in about 30% of chats, at least one partner wanted to talk longer. 

0:57

"Whatever you think the other person wants, you may well be wrong," lead author Adam Mastroianni, a psychology researcher at Harvard. 

1:05

In a second part of the study, the research team surveyed more than 800 people online about a recent one-on-one conversation with a friend or family member and found a similar disconnect—67% of respondents say the conversation went on too long.

1:20

Mastroianni found that surprising since the respondents were talking about conversations with people they knew, not strangers. "Just like you wouldn’t cut off a stranger and walk away, you also wouldn’t do the same thing to your mother," he observes.

Vocabulary

Dread (v) - to not want to do something or be scared of

To shed light on something (v phr) - to reveal information about a topic

Lousy (adj) - awful or very bad

In sync (adj) - happening at the same time 

To bow out (v phr) - to leave or stop doing something

Disconnect (n) - a difference between two things

To cut off someone (v phr) - to interrupt (a person who is speaking)

導讀人：Riley Bilgo

擅於教授語言學相關知識，教學強項包括簡報、面試準備、聽力和寫作。

本文收錄於英語島English Island 2021年4月號
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