A new study revealed that four minutes of small talk can help create a good impression and also know about other people, reported MailOnline.
A research team from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom asked their study's participants to have conversations with strangers online for only four minutes. They found that people judged other people's personalities quite quickly.
The participants especially sensed extraversion or introversion in people which eventually helped them change their behaviour accordingly.
Another study debunked the myth of love at first sight as the findings showed that it takes nearly two minutes of interaction for romance to blossom.
Previous studies have proven that people quickly make assumptions about personalities during in-person interaction but very less is known about what happens when these interactions are virtual and the other person is not visible.
In this study, 168 participants engaged in a four-minute chat with each other. They jotted down their impressions of the other person's personality.
They were then instructed to play strategic games with the same person. An addition 170 participants played strategic games with strangers without engaging in small talk for the sake of comparison.
Results showed that participants who had engaged in small talk had formed an impression before the game and it affected their strategy while playing.
In one of the games, participants behaved more cooperatively with people they believed to be extroverted.
“Our work highlights the importance of regular ‘small talk' communication, even when it doesn't seem relevant or important,” the researchers said.
