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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

How long should a conversation last? The people involved haven’t a clue

Participants in a tête-à-tête often misjudge when the other person is ready to call it quits.
Two women talking together in a cafe.

One person in a conversation might be happy to bring it to a close, the other person not — but neither knows the other’s desires. Credit: Dougal Waters/Getty

When two people talk, one almost always wants the conversation to end before the other does, but it’s rare that either party is aware of what the other wants, according to an analysis of almost 1,000 chats.

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Nature 591, 180 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-00568-0

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