Non-verbal cues and body language are all signs that show interest in someone you’ve just met. Not always easy to decipher them. To find out if this attraction is reciprocal, you have to turn to this unstoppable method according to a study which shows that being in tune with your interlocutor is measured in milliseconds: the response time in the discussion is a good indicator of the social connection between two partners.
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Chatting is a great way to get to know someone, especially a prospective love partner. If you often know if you like the person within moments, it can be more difficult to determine if attraction is mutual. Nonverbal cues such as eye contact and smiling can indicate romantic interest…as can responding more quickly to what you say, according to researchers at Dartmouth University.
” We’ve all had the experience of hooking up with some people but not others. We wanted to see if anything in people’s conversations reveals when they hook up said Emma Templeton, a graduate student in psychological and brain sciences at Dartmouth and one of the study’s co-authors. ” Our results show that the faster people respond to each other during a conversation, the more connected they feel “.
The faster people respond to each other during a conversation, the more connected they feel
The study, recently published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, consists of three separate experiments. The first focused on response time and the social bond that is established between 66 strangers. They took part in ten conversations, during which they could discuss the subject of their choice. These discussions were recorded on video so that participants could review it and rate how they felt connected with their interlocutor at all times. Researchers found that conversations with faster response times were linked to a stronger sense of social connection.
Response time: it’s all a matter of milliseconds
They then tried to determine if these results also applied to close friends. Response time data was similar: the longer the conversation is fluid, the more the participants feel connected to their interlocutor. ” It is well established that, on average, there is a gap of about a quarter of a second between speaking turns during a conversation. Our study is the first to examine the significance of this interval in relation to human connectionsnoted Thalia Wheatley, the study’s lead author and Lincoln Filene Professor of Human Relations at Dartmouth. ” When people feel like they can almost finish each other’s sentences, they close that 250 millisecond gap, and that’s when two people are in sync. “.
Even more surprisingly, the study shows that outside observers also use response times to determine whether two people have an affinity. You’re at a party and you want to know if your friend is having a good time with this beautiful stranger he/she has just met? Pay attention to the rhythm of their conversation. The faster they respond to each other, the more interested they are in the idea of getting closer.
Still not 100% sure? You can pay attention to other signs of mutual attraction before taking action. A study dated 2018, published in the journal Psychological Bulletin, revealed that people behave in a very specific way when they are interested in someone. The main clues? Start the conversation, want to be physically close to the person and imitate their behavior. If you notice any of these signs, enjoy the moment and see what happens next.
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