Having 'Boring' Conversations Could Be Good for Your Mental Health, Study Finds

A new study found something surprising: the conversations we dread most, about onions, the weather, the stock market, might be quietly doing more for our well-being than we realize.

How often do you find yourself avoiding eye contact in the grocery aisle or looking down when you see someone you have no time to chat with? You walk faster, you pretend to be on your phone, you dash to the door, just to avoid small talk.

Here's what you don't know. Those "boring" conversations you're hoping to avoid are actually good for you.

A study conducted at the University of Michigan, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, found that engaging in conversations about topics perceived as boring can actually have surprising health benefits.

In the study, 1,800 participants took part in nine separate experiments where they were asked to talk about topics they found boring, such as onions, the stock market, or World War II.

Surprisingly, the participants enjoyed the conversations more than they expected, and it didn't matter if they were talking to a stranger or a close friend, whether it was in person or on video, or even when both parties agreed the topic was boring.

So what made them enjoy it? It's not so much the topic, but how engaged the participants were in the conversation, according to the researchers.

Lead author Elizabeth Trinh explained that what actually makes a conversation enjoyable is feeling heard, responding to another person, and learning some small detail about their life.

“Engagement drives enjoyment more than topic does,” she told Self Magazine. Even a topic as dull as onions can turn into something meaningful once two people are actually paying attention to each other.

So while we can often predict boredom based on the topic, what we don't expect, and can't predict, is how it will feel to actually be in the conversation, listening and responding. That part only happens in the moment.

Another benefit of small talk is that it makes you a little less lonely. It doesn't matter how many people you talk to; what matters is whether these conversations make you feel connected.

Every time you skip what you think may be a "boring" conversation, it leaves you a little more isolated. Over time, that adds up. And loneliness has been linked to a higher risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, depression, and even early death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But this also doesn't mean you need to engage in every conversation that comes your way. Not all social contact is good for you, especially hostile or draining interactions, which are not beneficial. But the everyday ones, the coworker at the coffee machine, the neighbor by the mailbox, the stranger in line, are probably worth more than we give them credit for.

So next time you feel the urge to duck out of a conversation because the topic sounds dull, it might be worth staying in it a little longer. You'll probably enjoy it more than you think. And your well-being might thank you for it.