Researchers have identified a common but irritating conversational habit dubbed "boomerasking" – asking someone a question purely as a springboard to talk about yourself, rather than out of genuine interest in their answer. Dr Michael Yeomans of Imperial College London, who helped coin the term, has published new advice on how to break the habit, warning that it comes across as insincere and makes people less likeable than if they had simply talked about themselves from the outset.

The behaviour was first identified in a study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, which surveyed 302 people and found two-thirds had encountered boomerasking within the previous week; a further survey of over 1,800 people found three variants – "ask-bragging", "ask-complaining" and "ask-sharing" – were all rated as less sincere and likeable. Dr Yeomans's follow-up advice, published by Imperial Business School, suggests practical fixes such as asking questions you genuinely cannot answer yourself, offering follow-up questions that prove you were listening, and consciously extending the conversation by one more "round" before redirecting it back to yourself.