![]() ![]() Bosses who ask their employees to work overtime may try to motivate them by using small talk to temporarily decrease their difference in status. In workplace situations, small talk tends to occur mostly between workers on the same level, but it can be used by managers as a way of developing the working relationships with the staff who report to them. They can comfortably accept silence in circumstances that would be uncomfortable for two people who were only casual friends. Couples in an intimate relationship can signal their level of closeness by a lack of small talk. The need to use small talk depends upon the nature of the relationship between the people having the conversation. This type of discourse is often called chatter. The entire short conversation is a space-filler. In that example, the elements of phatic talk at the beginning and end of the conversation have merged. Paul: Oh, morning, William, how are you doing? William: Fine, thanks. The following example of small talk is between two colleagues who pass each other in a hallway: In some conversations, there is no specific functional or informative element at all. That can be due to human evolutionary history as a social species, as in many other social animals, silence is a communicative sign of potential danger. Generally, humans find prolonged silence uncomfortable, and sometimes unbearable. Tension can be reduced by starting phatic talk until a more substantial subject arises. Space filler to avoid silence: in many cultures, silences between two people are usually considered uncomfortable and/or awkward.Small talk can be used to mitigate that rejection, affirm the relationship between the two people, and soften the parting. At the end of a conversation: suddenly ending an exchange may risk appearing to reject the other person.It allows them to signal their own mood and to sense the mood of the other person. If there is already a relationship between the two talkers, their small talk serves as a gentle introduction before engaging in more functional topics of conversation. In a business meeting, it enables people to establish each other's reputation and level of expertise. Conversation opener: when the speakers do not know each other, it allows them to show that they have friendly intentions and desire some sort of positive interaction.It lubricates social interactions in a very flexible way, but the desired function is often dependent on the point in the conversation at which the small talk occurs: Small talk is closely related to the need for people to maintain a positive face and feel approved of by those who are listening to them. In particular, it helps new acquaintances to explore and categorize each other's social position. It serves many functions in helping to define the relationships between friends, colleagues, and new acquaintances. In spite of seeming to have little useful purpose, small talk is a bonding ritual and a strategy for managing interpersonal distance.
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