From the article: A recent study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology found that individuals are more likely to blame themselves when casual conversations become difficult. The findings reveal that the self-serving bias you find in many other human activities seems to disappear when engaging in casual conversation. This insight may be helpful to those who experience anxiety during small talk.

Informal conversations involve complex interactions between individuals that require coordination of turn-taking, eye contact, the anticipation of upcoming content, and interpretation of previous statements. The number of participants, cultural background, and goals can vary, and finding a balance between small talk and more personal topics can be difficult.

Despite the benefits of deeper conversations for mental well-being, people often overestimate the awkwardness of such interactions. Conversations can be challenging due to their inherent complexity, uncertainty, and broad scope.

Surprisingly, there is a lack of research in this area, given how crucial social connections are to our health and how conversations play a vital role in creating and sustaining these relationships. Researchers are working to address this gap in the literature by exploring whether individuals have a negative outlook on their conversational abilities compared to other everyday activities.