Don't interru…

Abstract

Here, Burrell reveals the surprising causes and how you can fight back. Media reports tell us that men often interrupt and mansplain things to women -- last month, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau got unflattering attention for doing so -- and stereotypes would have us believe that people from some countries are more likely to jump in than those from others. But take a closer look at how interruptions play out and things aren't always what they seem. Figure out why and how people interrupt and you might find yourself more forgiving of the big mouth who stole your moment or better placed to avoid it happening again. But psychologist Ann Weatherall at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand says the early studies counted all overlapping speech, skewing the results. Sometimes people overlap and it's not interruptive at all, she says. It is also hard to know whether men interrupt because of their gender or their status, she says, with men more often holding positions of power