Sign in Get started INNOVATION LEADERSHIP HEALTH CARE ANALYTICS ENERGY MARKETING FINANCE TEXAS MCCOMBS To Deepen Connections, Skip the Small Talk Want to build relationships and feel happier? New research suggests we get personal. Texas McCombs Follow Nov 18 · 2 min read Based on the research of Amit Kumar W hen was the last time you cried in front of someone? I know we’ve just met, so maybe that question seems a bit personal. But new research from Amit Kumar, assistant professor of marketing at Texas McCombs, shows that people feel more positively when they have conversations with strangers that are deeper than the default small talk. Study participants experienced more happiness, greater liking for and bonding with others, and increased enjoyment in the interactions after they were prompted to discuss more personal topics. Unfortunately, we too often mistakenly let fear get the better of us. “People want to engage in deeper conversations than they typically do,” Kumar says. “It’s not that we’re disinterested in having these more meaningful discussions, but rather, we’re often inordinately worried about how these interactions will go.” Below, we bypass any worries and get to know Kumar’s research — and the professor himself! — through a meaningful conversation. For more information about this research, read the University of Texas news story. “Overly Shallow?: Miscalibrated Expectations Create a Barrier to Deeper Conversation” is forthcoming, online in advance in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Some rights reserved Marketing Conversations Small Talk Strangers Expectations 56 1 WRITTEN BY Texas McCombs Follow News, business research, and ideas from the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin. Learn more at www.mccombs.utexas.edu Big Ideas Follow Research and insights from Texas McCombs More From Medium SUCCESSFUL SCALABILITY DURING A GLOBAL PANDEMIC CH Consulting Group Waterfall DeFi in-a-nutshell Waterfall DeFi in Waterfall DeFi Why the Investment World Is Break in Two: Warren Buffett Bought Chevron Nuno Fabiao in DataDrivenInvestor ATTN Executives : Why You Should Adopt Robotic Process Automation Sunflower Lab in DataDrivenInvestor Pay Later — Convenience or Credit Pranjal Choudhury How Handelsregisterauszug England Could Help You Win the Game of Thrones Handelsregisterauszug England The World AeroPress Championship brings together thousands of the planet’s most fun-loving… Bailey Richardson in People & Company Forecasting for Uncertainty Aarish Shah in Small Business Forum Learn more. Medium is an open platform where 170 million readers come to find insightful and dynamic thinking. Here, expert and undiscovered voices alike dive into the heart of any topic and bring new ideas to the surface. Learn more Make Medium yours. Follow the writers, publications, and topics that matter to you, and you’ll see them on your homepage and in your inbox. Explore Write a story on Medium. If you have a story to tell, knowledge to share, or a perspective to offer — welcome home. It’s easy and free to post your thinking on any topic. Start a blog About Write Help Legal To make Medium work, we log user data. By using Medium, you agree to our Privacy Policy, including cookie policy.