The optimal durations of pauses in several conversation types
Date
1993
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Haverford College. Department of Psychology
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Thesis
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Award
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eng
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Haverford users only
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Abstract
This study investigates whether response latency to a question contributes to the perceived honesty, sincerity, confidence, or competence of a speaker. It was hypothesized that there is an optimal duration that is consistent across subjects. This optimal duration is believed to be associated with a most favorable evaluation of the speaker, and that a speaker using a response onset shorter or longer than this optimal duration would be perceived less favorably. It was also hypothesized that this optimal duration may vary as a function of the type of speech act and the gender of the speakers. Two studies were conducted to determine what subjects produce as the optimal, too short, and too long durations. An additional purpose of the studies was to determine whether an independent group of subjects perceive the produced optimal durations as most honest, sincere, etc. and viewed the non-optimal durations less favorably. The results show that there does seem to be an optimal duration that is associated with more favorable ratings, though this optimal duration is shorter than expected. The results are discussed relative to the phenomenon of speaker congruence.