Not worth my time! Understanding factors that make speech socially engaging

What determines how much time people are willing to spend in a conversation? Here, we investigated how the topic of conversation-like anecdotes and the speaker's relational stance shape listeners' social impressions and value perception of speech, indexed by their willingness to continue a hypothetical interaction. In Experiment 1, speakers told boring and interesting anecdotes using a neutral or an engaging tone designed to foster positive interpersonal outcomes. Acoustic analyses showed that engaging speakers raised their pitch, spoke louder and with greater variability, used a "brighter" voice, and their anecdotes sounded positive, energetic, and authentic to listeners. In Experiment 2, listeners indicated how long they would be willing to continue a conversation for each anecdote ("time bidding") and rated speakers on key social traits. Engaging speakers were perceived as friendlier, more competent, and more attractive, demonstrating the impact of vocal stance on social appeal. Although the topic had the strongest influence on time-bidding responses, willingness to continue a hypothetical interaction was also influenced by relational stance (engaging > neutral voice), mediated by social impressions of the speaker. Results demonstrate that both what is said and how speakers present themselves shape the subjective value of social anecdotes, potentially contributing to perceived interaction quality. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).