Silence becomes awkward after approximately four seconds, research shows. People who view a video clip in which a four-second silence has been inserted into a conversation report higher instances of low self-esteem and anxiety than those who view a video clip without the breaks in conversation. Researchers believe that people might associate feelings of awkwardness with silence because not receiving a response signals rejection by their peer group. In prehistoric times, social rejection might have meant death, because people needed to be in a group to survive, so it is thought that humans have an inherent desire to be accepted.
More about silence:
In some countries, such as Japan and Mexico, people who are silent are generally viewed as more trustworthy than those who speak more often.
The scientific theory known as the “20 minutes after the hour” effect states that human beings in crowds are collectively silent every 20 minutes after the hour as a result of their ancestors needing to regularly listen for danger.
Children who go to schools in quiet environments have been found to have greater reading skills than those in noisy environments, because noise is thought to interrupt long-term memory formation.