Research suggests that people can actually enjoy even seemingly boring conversations.
When talking to colleagues you happen to meet in an elevator or classmates in the same group at school, you might be asked about a topic that has absolutely no interest to you. Many people dislike these 'boring conversations,' but an experiment involving a total of 1800 participants revealed that people actually enjoy these 'boring conversations' more than expected.
Conversations about boring topics are more interesting than we think.
Think that conversation will be boring? Science says think again
https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2026/04/boring-conversation
Getting Stuck in a 'Boring' Conversation Could Have a Surprising Benefit : ScienceAlert
https://www.sciencealert.com/getting-stuck-in-a-boring-conversation-could-have-a-surprising-benefit
You may have experienced hearing acquaintances or colleagues nearby chatting about topics like 'I recently started going to the gym' or 'My pet cat is so cute,' and praying, 'Please, don't let them ask me about such a boring conversation.'
A research team led by Elizabeth Trinn, a doctoral student at the University of Michigan, conducted an experiment with a total of 1,800 participants, having them converse in various situations to investigate how people actually felt when they engaged in 'boring conversations.'
In one experiment, participants were asked to rate their level of interest in topics such as 'sports,' 'movies,' 'social media,' 'AI,' 'music,' 'travel,' 'history,' 'sustainability,' 'books,' and 'fitness.' Then, participants were paired with those who were interested in the topic and those who were not, and asked to have a five-minute conversation about the designated topic.
When comparing the enjoyment of conversations that participants had rated beforehand with the enjoyment they rated after the conversation, participants who were interested in the topic enjoyed the conversation as expected. Interestingly, however, it also became clear that participants who were not interested in the topic actually enjoyed the conversation and wanted to talk to the person again.
This result suggests that the participant who was interested in the topic was able to speak more engagingly, which may have allowed the participant who was not interested to enjoy the conversation as well. Therefore, the research team conducted the same experiment under the condition that 'both participants were not interested in the topic,' and the participants still enjoyed the small talk more than initially expected.
It's possible that the subjects were able to enjoy the conversation because they were subtly shifting the topic to something that interested them. To test this hypothesis, the research team conducted a similar experiment with one of the subjects instructed not to change the topic, but the subject still enjoyed the conversation even when it was about something that didn't interest them.
In another experiment, participants compared conversations with 'long-time friends' versus 'people they had just met,' but they still enjoyed the small talk. 'We were surprised and excited by the magnitude of the effect. People consistently expected that conversations about seemingly boring topics would be less interesting than they actually were,' says Trinn.
Furthermore, the research team had the subjects read transcripts of conversations about topics they rated as boring, or showed them videos about those topics. As expected, the subjects rated the experience as boring.
The research team concluded that people enjoy the act of 'talking to others' itself, regardless of the topic. 'It's the interaction that really creates the enjoyment,' Trinh argues. 'Feeling heard, responding to each other, and learning unexpected details about the other person's life makes even commonplace topics meaningful.'
The findings of this study suggest that even if the topic itself seems boring, the act of conversing can create a sense of social connection and lead to an enjoyable experience. 'If you don't talk to a colleague in front of your coffee maker, or the person next to you in the elevator, or a stranger at an event, you might be missing out on small connections. Even short conversations about everyday life can be more beneficial than we imagine,' said Trinn.
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