Small talk has a bad reputation, with many viewing it as unimportant and dull. But science suggests these everyday exchanges deserve a second look.

We tend to dismiss everyday conversation as trivial, even tedious. The weather, commuting, someone's cat, hardly the stuff of a deeply meaningful exchange. But new research suggests that what we label as “boring” may actually be surprisingly engaging, and good for our health.

Many people avoid small talk because they expect it to be uninteresting or awkward. The hesitation may come at a cost.

In fact, people consistently underestimate how much they will enjoy everyday conversations, according to a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

“We tend to assume that if a topic sounds dull, the conversation will be dull, too,” lead author Elizabeth Trinh, a doctoral student at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, said in a press release. “But that's not what people actually experience.”

To test this idea, researchers conducted nine experiments involving about 600 participants across different settings. Participants were first asked to identify topics they considered boring. It included everything from World Wars I and II to vegan diets, the stock market, math, onions and even the game Pokemon.

Before any conversation took place, participants predicted how much they would enjoy discussing these topics. Then came the key step: they actually had the conversations. Some spoke with strangers, others with friends. Some interactions happened in person, others online. Afterward, participants rated how interesting and enjoyable the conversations were.

Across all nine experiments the pattern was consistent. People expected the conversations to be dull, but ended up enjoying them significantly more than they anticipated. Even more notable, this held true even when both people agreed beforehand that the topic itself was boring.

The disconnect appears to come from how we judge conversations before they begin. According to Trinh, people tend to focus on what researchers call the “static” elements (the topic itself) because that's the easiest thing to evaluate ahead of time.

But once a conversation starts, something else takes over. “What really drives enjoyment is engagement,” Trinh explained. “Feeling heard, responding to each other, and discovering unexpected details about someone's life can make even a mundane topic meaningful.” In other words, it's not the subject, it's the interaction.

Casual conversation is about more than social curiosity. The findings point to something more fundamental. What is it? Human connection.

People expected the conversations to be dull but ended up enjoying them significantly more than they anticipated.

Decades of research shows that strong social ties are linked to better mental and physical health, lower levels of loneliness and improved overall well-being. Many people avoid small talk because they expect it to be uninteresting or awkward.

The hesitation may come at a cost. “If we skip talking to a coworker at the coffee machine, a neighbor in the elevator, or a stranger at an event, we may be missing small moments of connection,” Trinh said. “Even a brief conversation about everyday life may be more rewarding than we expect.”

The upshot is simple but powerful: we may need to rethink how we approach everyday interactions. Instead of asking ourselves, “Will this be interesting?” it may be more useful to ask “What might come out of this?” Small talk may never lose its reputation, but it can lead to deeper conversations, and this research suggests it's worth lending an ear.