Farley, S: Wait! I wasn‘t finished . . .

This book explores how interrupters and their targets are perceived in terms of status and likability. In Experiment One, participants listened to a brief audiotaped conversation in which one person interrupted the other five times. Results indicated that interrupters were perceived as more dominant and more influential than non-interrupters, and that targets of interruption were viewed as less dominant, influential, and competent than non- targets. Furthermore, interrupters were liked less than non-interrupters. In Experiment Two, four confederates (two men and two women) systematically interrupted naïve participants while discussing an article. Confederates were viewed as more dominant, influential, and less likable in the interruption condition than in the control condition. Targets of interruption rated themselves as less influential in the interruption condition than the control condition. As expected, interrupters, especially female interrupters, were liked less than those who did not interrupt. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.