Silence for more than four seconds can cause anxiety and low self-esteem due to the fear of social rejection. In some cultures, being quiet is seen as trustworthy, and silence every 20 minutes past the hour is a natural instinct. Quiet environments are better for children’s learning.
Silence becomes awkward after about four seconds, according to research. People who watch a video clip in which a four-second silence has been inserted into a conversation report higher instances of low self-esteem and anxiety than those who watch a video clip without interruptions in the conversation. Researchers believe that people may associate feelings of embarrassment with silence because not receiving a response signals rejection from their peer group. In prehistoric times, social rejection could have meant death, because people needed to be in a group to survive, so humans are thought to have an inherent desire to be accepted.
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In some countries, such as Japan and Mexico, people who keep quiet are generally considered more trustworthy than those who speak up more often.
The scientific theory known as the “20 minutes past the hour” effect states that humans in crowds are collectively silent every 20 minutes past the hour due to their ancestors’ need to regularly listen for danger.
Children who attend schools in quiet environments have been found to have better reading skills than those in noisy environments, because noise is thought to disrupt long-term memory formation.
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