If you're trying to win an argument with someone who's tired, just keep talking—how long you speak matters way more than what you're actually saying.
PsyArXiv · March 17, 2026 · s42rh_v1
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The Takeaway
This study found that for people under 'cognitive load,' exposure duration acts as a mental shortcut for credibility. While alert people focus on the strength of the facts, distracted people are more easily persuaded simply by how long someone talks.
From the abstract
Previous research demonstrates that increasing exposure over time often leads to greater attitude change in favor of the target attitude. But why does this exposure duration-attitude change link occur? The present work suggests that the effects of exposure duration on attitude change are non-thoughtful and implicit in nature, and that persons who are thinking hard are less prone to the effects of exposure duration. Three studies tested this idea by manipulating the ability of persons to think e