Do we rely upon brief cues when making quick judgments of others—e.g., when meeting new people, or making hiring decisions? 

Singapore psychologist Deming Wang and a marketing colleague studied response timing (i.e., the length of delay between a question and response).  They wanted to determine if this nonverbal cue leads people to make judgments of competence, character (such as honesty, certainty, and confidence), or personality traits like extraversion.  

They gave 220 international individuals a brief 10-Item Personality Inventory. In 14 experimental scenarios using audio, video, and vignette formats, participants gave their impressions of responders’ personality traits for each of the varied interactions. 

Results? In scenarios of people with delayed responding, participants as a “mock employer” concluded the interviewee was nervous and introverted, and then they were more likely to hire the extroverted person. Even when the responder was a known friend, they thought response delays signaled nervousness.  

Everyone! We make a variety of inferences based on response timing and others’ non-verbal cues. Let’s take time to check out our automatic assumptions carefully!

Written by Vanessa Melendez, B.S.

Reference: Wang, D., & Ziano, I. (2022). Faster Responders Are Perceived as more Extraverted. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.