First impression: how many minutes is enough to find out the main thing about the interlocutor

Scientists say that a few minutes are enough for a person to find out the main thing about the interlocutor, writes The Science Times.

After studying this issue in depth, experts from the University of Warwick, examining the behavior of 338 people, came to the conclusion that the subject needs only four minutes to form an impression of another person.

Moreover, as they emphasize, the same rule applies not only to live communication, but also to instant messengers.

In a lab setting, after just four minutes of small talk about nothing, study participants had a good understanding of their partners' identities, the experts concluded.

Drawing conclusions, experts noted the importance of "small talk (small talk)", which to many seems to be a complete waste of time. In turn, experts insist that it is he who is very important for further interaction, both in secular communication and in labor collectives. Therefore, it is recommended not to neglect small breaks and not to avoid short communication with each other.

Through short, seemingly trivial interactions with other people, we become more capable of predicting the identities of those we are talking to, which in turn improves our performance when we interact with them in the future, the experts noted.