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Research

Fast Response Times Signal Social Connection in Conversation

Templeton, Chang, Reynolds, Cone LeBeaumont & Wheatley (2022) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(4)

Relied on in 3 places across the academy · 3 stated limits

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What it found

Across conversations between strangers and between friends, shorter gaps between turns tracked how connected people felt — and third-party listeners could hear the difference too.

In conversations between strangers and between friends, the faster people responded to each other the more connected both felt — and outside listeners judged the same clips as more connected when the responses were quicker.

Our reading. The nearest study is about speech: shorter gaps between turns tracked how connected friends and strangers felt, and outside listeners judged connection from the gaps alone.

What it does not show

Spoken conversation between friends and between strangers, with the gaps between turns measured in fractions of a second and connection reported straight afterwards. It says nothing about written messages, or about any pause long enough to notice.

And where we carry it further

The effect lives in milliseconds of turn-taking, not in whether you take a second to think. It says a long gap costs something; it does not say hurry.

The gaps in the paper are measured in fractions of a second, below conscious control. It supports answering plainly rather than polishing; it says nothing about any particular pause.

Gaps measured in milliseconds, in spoken conversation. The two-week rule and the shrinking-replies test are ours; the paper only shows that responsiveness is something people read.

Where we rely on it

3 places in the academy. If this paper turned out to be wrong, this is the list that would have to change. Some of the instructions below are part of Gold; none of the findings are.

Cited alongside it

Papers that sit under the same topics and films. Not a claim that they agree with each other — only that the same exercises lean on both.

Research

A real study. We tell you what it found, how many people were in it, and what it can't prove.

Free to read, link to and quote. If we have carried this paper further than it goes, say so at contact@suaviq.com — corrections to this registry are the most useful mail we get.