Have a Conversation You Think Will Be Dull—No, Really
People underrate how much pleasure they may feel when discussing a dull subject.
Posted April 29, 2026 | Reviewed by Lybi Ma
Envision a situation when you know you’re going to be talking with people. And you’re not going to be engaging in just any kind of talking. It’s not a focused discussion about one of your passions, a debate, or a moving story to tell, or a conversation with someone who’s an expert in a subject that fascinates you. It’s also not a chance to delve into the deeper thoughts, feelings, and meaningful happenings of the people you care about. Oh no, my friend. You are about to step into the world of idle chit-chat. How do you feel about it? This may feel like a treat for you. There are plenty of people who’d step into the moment with eagerness. Then again, when the red carpet toward random chin-wagging is unfurled before you, this could be the moment when going home to scrub that stubborn stain off your baseboard suddenly holds more appeal. If that’s more your style, lots of people would identify.
That said, what do people tend to feel if they engage in idle talk? Is there a difference between what people think they’re going to feel and what they actually experience? A team of r esearchers explored this question across a series of studies. The researchers had some people talk about a subject they found interesting; other unlucky folks had to discuss issues they found uninteresting. The researchers also paired mismatched people so that one person thought the topic was bland and the other found it intriguing. Some people discussed an issue they both found dull. The researchers looked at pairs of strangers and pairs of friends; they explored what happened when the subject shifted during the discussion or when it remained on track. They also looked at what happened when people didn’t directly interact with another person, but instead read or watched a discussion other folks had.
The results showed that people tended to minimize how much they’d like talking with someone about a subject they initially thought to be uninteresting, regardless of whether that person was a stranger or a friend. This was even true if both people thought they’d be talking about a boring subject. On the surface, it makes sense intuitively that we wouldn't have to talk about a boring topic. But what's the mechanism underneath that sensical but misleading inclination? One possible reason is that we’re inclined to draw from “static” aspects of a situation, which basically refers to what you already know about a circumstance. If you know who you’re going to talk to, where you’re going to have a discussion, and what you’ll talk about, these are all static features. They’re evident, and we attach more weight to them. Conversely, “dynamic” parts of a situation are the unknowns. They’re what you notice during an experience, such as: What it feels like to interact with someone; how you and the other person respond to each other. These are, by definition, not clear-cut, so we’re less inclined to draw from them when we imagine how we might feel when chatting with someone. Yet, it’s precisely the dynamic parts of a discussion, the process of interacting with another person, that make the dialogue more satisfying.
Of course, the intended message of this study is not to seek out dreary dialogues. But it does invite us to be curious the next time we’re tempted to turn away from an interaction because we assume it has nothing to offer. What good might happen then?
Trinh, E. N., Thio, N., & Klein, N. (2026). Conversations about boring topics are more interesting than we think . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Advance online publication.
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Holly Parker, Ph.D. is a lecturer at Harvard University and a psychologist in private practice.
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This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.