Pink Noise Predicts a Good Conversation in 1,000-Plus Chats, Study Finds

Conversations that balance staying on a topic with branching out tend to be more enjoyable, according to a study by researchers at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. They borrowed the physics concept of pink noise to describe that balance, and found that chats with more of it left people feeling more connected, The Guardian reported.

The work, published in Science Advances, also found that the pattern predicted which speed-dating pairs went on to meet for a second date.

What pink noise means in a conversation

Physicists sort noise into "colors" based on how a signal varies over time. Kathryn O'Nell, the study's first author, said pink noise sits on the edge of chaos in physics: a system can hold steady at one point without being stuck there for good.

Applied to talk, she said, that means a pair can linger on a subject long enough to understand it and each other, without letting it go stale.

The researchers contrasted pink noise with two other patterns. White noise appears when people fail to follow what was just said, so a chat jumps around or one person seems unaware of the other's replies. Red noise appears when people mirror each other's language and fall into a rut. Pink noise lies between the two. People move together as they explore a topic, drift apart as they bring in new ideas, and then come back together.

How the team measured it

The scientists fed each side of a conversation into an AI program called MPNet. It scored every turn on 768 different criteria, including meaning, tone and context. That let the team track how a conversation rose and fell over time and measure how pink it was.

They analyzed more than 1,000 conversations between strangers, who answered questions about the chats afterward. According to the Guardian, people enjoyed the exchanges more, wanted to keep talking and felt a stronger connection when the conversations showed more pink noise.

The team then ran a similar analysis on friends talking about formative experiences, and again more pink noise went with more enjoyment. In the speed-dating conversations, more pink noise predicted which pairs met up for a second date.

Can the skill be learned?

How pink a conversation is depends on the people involved. O'Nell said she suspects the skill can be learned and developed. As a partial test, the team analyzed podcasts with two hosts and found that the pinkness of their conversations rose over the first 50 episodes. That is an observation about podcasts, not a test of training people to talk differently.

Why it matters for everyday conversation

The researchers say a good conversation is hard to define even though people recognize one when they are in it. A common shorthand is being "in sync," but Dr. Emily Finn, a neuroscientist and the paper's senior author, said that image misses something. "In sync can be incredibly dull," she said, noting that people can repeat each other's words and circle one subject while being bored.

In practical terms, the findings suggest that a satisfying chat is not one where both people simply echo each other. It is one that alternates between shared focus and fresh material. Neither a scattered exchange nor a repetitive one scored as well.

A caution from an outside expert

Prof. Elizabeth Stokoe, a conversation analyst at the London School of Economics, praised the researchers for moving beyond the idea that more similarity is better. She cautioned, however, that asking whether a conversation is enjoyable risks missing the point.

She cited a study of a phone call between a father and his daughter, a young woman with learning disabilities living in residential care. They take a long time to say goodbye, and the ending is painful and poignant. Stokoe said that reducing conversations to whether they are enjoyable can feel bloodless, since many of the most important conversations in people's lives are like this.

The study measured enjoyment, connection and willingness to keep talking, which is a narrower question than what makes a conversation meaningful.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by The Guardian