In France, silence becomes annoying after 6.5 seconds

In a conversation “White” and suddenly the atmosphere reaches. Indeed, when words are too long, there may be tangible anxiety. But for how long. On average, this moment of embarrassment will arrive 6.8 seconds after silence. This is revealed through the last poll published on January 20 and was implemented by the online learning platform, based on 16 different countries (1), including France, 26,716 people were sent. According to the results, this duration is far from universal, and every culture responds differently to the lack of conversation conversation.

Anxiety to a thoughtful gesture

For example, in France, where the stem is placed as the art of living, the silence of silence is slightly lower. But it is not the most sensitive country to “White”. We are quickly ashamed of the population, we find the Brazilians. 85% of respondents indicate they are not silent for more than 5.5 seconds. “This emphasizes their cultural preference to active and continuous conversations,” highlight the research. Italians, the Colombians, Americans, Hong Kong are watching and finally the French in the 5th place.

In contrast, Thai people can keep up to 8.1 seconds without feeling the need to talk. The same is true for the Japanese (7.8 seconds) and the Dutch (7.4 seconds). “Silence in these cultures is often considered a thoughtful gesture, not the shameful interruption of the conversation,” reports the conclusions of the study.

Behind the misfortune, the fear of judgment

The situations where these silences occur are especially revealed. The first meeting for the French leads the configuration where this emptiness of words is afraid of 75% of respondents admitted that it feels shame in this context. This anxiety is especially pronounced among men, as 44% of them think that it is their main concern for 39% of women. The professional environment is not outgoing in this area. Supervisors are perceived as more annoying (38%) than partners (21%).

But where the French are completely destabilized, they look at their shoes, the most fast, it is during the silence with the strangers. 44% announces that they are more embarrassed in their presence. “By definition, a foreigner is a person we don’t know more or more, which can explain why the irritating silence is especially unpleasant in his presence,” he said. When a friend is silent in a conversation, we often comment on him as a careful list of attention or thought. On the other hand, the lack of acquaintance with strangers can lead us to the silence as a sign of a judgment or lack of communication. ” Finally, this is not only the duration of silence, but also important, but also the relationship we claim to share this invalidity.

(1) This study was conducted in 21 different countries (Germany, Argentina, Austria, Brazil, France, Hong Kong, Italy, Fees, Poland, Portugal, United Kingdom, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand and Turkey) in November 2024.