You’re in a meeting, finally getting the chance to present an idea you’ve been working on for weeks. You’re two sentences in when your colleague jumps in: “So what you’re saying is…” and proceeds to reframe your idea in their words, taking the conversation in a completely different direction. Your jaw tightens. You smile tightly and try to regain control, but the moment is gone. Your idea has been hijacked, and somehow you’re the one left feeling like you did something wrong.
Or maybe it’s this: You’re having coffee with a friend, sharing something difficult that happened to you. You’re mid-sentence, vulnerability hanging in the air, when they cut in with “Oh my God, the same thing happened to me!” and launch into their own story. Ten minutes later, you still haven’t finished your thought, and your friend doesn’t even realize they’ve taken over the conversation. You walk away feeling unheard, wondering if your experiences even matter.
If you’ve experienced these moments—and let’s be honest, who hasn’t?—you know that peculiar sting of being interrupted. It’s not just about losing your place in the conversation. It’s the message underneath: your words don’t matter as much. Your time is less valuable. You can wait.
But here’s what most people don’t understand: interruptions reveal far more about the interrupter than about you. And understanding why people interrupt changes everything about how you respond to it.
The Psychology of Interruption: More Than Just Bad Manners
Before we explore the specific reasons people interrupt, let’s be clear about something: not all interruptions are the same, and not all of them are malicious.
According to psychological research from October 2025, interruptions aren’t just conversational accidents—they’re loaded signals. Sometimes they say “I want control.” Sometimes they say “I’m too anxious to wait.” And sometimes they say, quite plainly, “I wasn’t listening.”
Psychologists have long recognized that interruptions are moments where power, insecurity, and social dynamics play out in real time. Research published in Psychology Today in February 2023 notes that an interruption is not necessarily an attempt to rescue the listeners from dying of boredom—it can be as much, if not more, about the interrupter than about the original speaker.
Understanding this distinction matters because it changes how you interpret and respond to being interrupted. When you recognize that someone’s interruption often has nothing to do with the value of what you’re saying and everything to do with their internal state, it becomes less personal and more manageable.
Let’s explore the five most common reasons people interrupt—and what each one reveals.
5 Reasons People Interrupt You
1. They’re Asserting Power and Status (Whether They Realize It or Not)
This is perhaps the most studied and documented reason for interrupting, and it’s often the most painful to experience. Some interruptions are deliberate power plays—conscious attempts to establish dominance in the conversation and, by extension, in the relationship or social hierarchy.
What this looks like:
- Your boss consistently cutting you off mid-sentence to redirect or “correct” your point
- Colleagues interrupting your contributions in meetings but not each other’s
- Someone “correcting” or “clarifying” what you just said, as if you couldn’t articulate it yourself
- Being interrupted more when you’re lower in the organizational or social hierarchy
- Gender-based patterns where men interrupt women more frequently than the reverse
According to research on conversation dynamics, interruptions are deliberate, or at least semi-conscious, ways of asserting control. In psychology, interruptions are understood not only as communication glitches but as acts of dominance, subtle or otherwise. They tell us who feels entitled to take the floor and who is expected to yield it.
Why this happens: Studies show that men interrupt women far more often than the reverse, particularly in professional or mixed-gender settings. Sometimes those interruptions are “supportive,” meaning they overlap to agree or reinforce what’s being said, but often they are competitive, meaning they redirect the conversation away from the original speaker.
The psychology is straightforward: in social hierarchies, those with power interrupt those without it more freely. It’s a way of reinforcing who has authority to speak and whose time is more valuable. The boss who speaks over an employee isn’t just eager to get to the point, they’re reinforcing a hierarchy.
What’s particularly insidious is that these patterns become normalized. Over time, repeated interruptions erode authority, confidence, and willingness to speak up. Even if the interrupter didn’t consciously mean to dismiss someone, the effect is cumulative.
The deeper reality: When interruptions consistently silence certain voices, especially along lines of gender, race, or workplace hierarchy, the message is unmistakable: your time is less valuable, your contribution less necessary.
2. They Have Executive Function Challenges (ADHD, Anxiety, or Cognitive Processing Differences)
This reason is critically important because it’s often misinterpreted as rudeness when it’s actually neurological. For people with ADHD, anxiety, or other executive function differences, interrupting isn’t a choice—it’s a struggle with impulse control and working memory.
What this looks like:
- Someone jumping in before you’re finished because they’ll forget their thought if they wait
- Interruptions that feel enthusiastic rather than dismissive
- The person seeming genuinely engaged and interested, not trying to dominate
- Patterns that are consistent across all relationships, not just with certain people
- Apologizing after interrupting but continuing to do it anyway
According to research from Rice Psychology Group published in October 2025, for many people with ADHD, interrupting isn’t about rudeness—it’s about how their brain works. Interrupting usually stems from a combination of impulsivity, hyperfocus, and working memory challenges.
Why this happens: People with ADHD have difficulty filtering irrelevant stimuli or even filtering their own thoughts from those of others, which means that they may be able to focus on a discussion for a few minutes before their attention switches. At that point, they may get the urge to interrupt or change the subject.
Common reasons include fear of forgetting (a thought pops up, and if it’s not shared immediately, it might be gone forever), misreading timing (someone with ADHD may think the speaker has finished when they haven’t), and feeling urgent (to the ADHD brain, the thought feels pressing, even if others don’t see it that way).
People with short-term memory challenges may find the need to interrupt, particularly if they have suddenly remembered something important or have a great idea and feel the need to share it straight away before they forget what they wanted to say.
The critical insight: Ironically, interruptions often happen because the person is deeply interested in the conversation, not because they aren’t listening. Even when the intention is positive, interrupting can make others feel unheard or disrespected.
This doesn’t excuse the behavior or mean you have to tolerate it, but understanding the neurological component changes how you might address it. Someone who interrupts due to ADHD often feels terrible about it and genuinely wants to change but struggles with the executive function required to pause and wait.
3. They’re Anxious, Insecure, or Afraid of Being Invisible
Sometimes interruptions aren’t about dominating—they’re about not disappearing. For people with social anxiety or deep insecurity, interrupting can be a desperate attempt to stay relevant, prove their worth, or manage the anxiety of silence.
What this looks like:
- Interrupting that feels frantic or desperate rather than confident
- Filling every silence immediately, as if quiet is dangerous
- Constantly adding their own experiences or examples, needing to relate everything back to themselves
- Seeming uncomfortable when others have the floor for extended periods
- Using interruptions to redirect conversation away from vulnerable topics
According to research from December 2025, some people leap in because ideas feel hot and urgent in their heads, and the fear of losing them beats the instinct to wait. Others cut across because silence makes them anxious, or because quick overlap is how conversation worked at home.
Why this happens: Social anxiety can play a role: people cut in to escape the discomfort of listening too closely, or to steer the topic away from vulnerability. For someone with anxiety, being silent while listening can feel unbearable—they’re hyperaware of themselves, worried about when to speak, rehearsing what to say. Jumping in provides relief from that internal pressure.
When someone feels emotionally wound up—whether from excitement, anger, or frustration—they might interrupt simply because they can’t contain the urge to speak. The interruption becomes a release valve for internal tension.
The friend who blurts out their own thought before you finish isn’t necessarily selfish, they may be fighting a current of anxiety. There’s often an underlying fear: if I don’t speak now, I’ll be forgotten. If I don’t add something, I don’t matter.
The compassionate truth: These interruptions come from a place of deep insecurity, not arrogance. The person isn’t trying to diminish you—they’re desperately trying not to feel diminished themselves.
4. They Grew Up in a Family or Culture Where Interrupting Is Normal
This is one of the most misunderstood reasons for interrupting. What feels like rudeness to you might feel like engagement and connection to someone from a different conversational culture.
What this looks like:
- Enthusiastic overlapping that doesn’t feel hostile
- Multiple people talking at once in a way that seems chaotic but feels normal to them
- Finishing each other’s sentences as a sign of closeness
- High energy, fast-paced conversations where pauses are rare
- Genuinely not realizing they’ve interrupted because to them, this is how conversation works
For some, conversations are more dynamic and engaging when they move quickly and people talk over each other. For many, a good conversation flows in different directions and different voices are not interrupting as much as keeping the dynamic and energy of the conversation high.
Why this happens: A range of factors, including personality type, upbringing, home environment, gender, and culture, can influence how people converse with others. Somebody who lives, or grew up, with a big family may well have this expectation of conversation.
Research examining conversation patterns across cultures notes that some people see loud, fast, overlapping talk as a form of bonding. Others feel attacked by the same behavior. Two realities, one moment at the table.
Cultural and family norms create powerful templates for how conversation “should” work. If you grew up with constant overlap, you might only realize years later that you feel oddly tired after every social event. Conversely, if you grew up in a family where turn-taking was strictly observed, overlapping speech might feel aggressive even when it’s meant as engagement.
The key insight: It’s important to note that not all interruptions are designed to overpower. Sometimes people jump in because they are enthusiastic, or because they think finishing your sentence is a form of connection.
This doesn’t mean you have to accept it—different conversational styles can clash painfully, and you’re allowed to set boundaries. But understanding that someone isn’t interrupting to be rude, they’re interrupting because that’s how they learned to show interest, changes how you might address it.
5. They Genuinely Don’t Realize They’re Doing It (Poor Social Calibration)
Finally, some people interrupt simply because they lack awareness of conversational dynamics. They’re so focused on their own internal experience that they don’t track the social cues that signal when someone else is speaking or about to speak.
What this looks like:
- Missing subtle signals like someone taking a breath to speak or shifting body language
- Appearing genuinely surprised when told they interrupted
- Not tracking whose turn it is or how long they’ve been talking
- Being equally oblivious to other social cues beyond interrupting
- No pattern of who they interrupt—it’s everyone, equally
Finally, a very common reason behind constant interruption is a straightforward lack of understanding how conversation dynamics work. Some people are so immersed in their own internal monologue that they genuinely don’t notice when they’re cutting someone off.
Why this happens: Some people simply don’t track conversational turns well. This is common in people with poor social calibration or limited feedback growing up. Conversation requires sophisticated cognitive skills—processing what’s being said, tracking whose turn it is, reading non-verbal cues, timing your entry. For some people, these skills never fully developed.
They might not register the subtle cues—like a quick inhale or a slight shift in body language—that signal another person is about to speak. This can come off as dismissive or insensitive, even if it’s unintentional.
From a cognitive angle, conversation research has shown that our brains time conversational turns in fractions of a second. When someone consistently mistimes their entries, they’re missing these micro-cues that most people process automatically.
The challenge: In many cases, though, it’s not just about “not noticing.” It’s about a reduced capacity (or willingness) to empathize. When we don’t value others’ voices as much as our own, we interrupt without a second thought.
This is the hardest type of interrupting to address because the person often doesn’t see the problem. They’re not trying to dominate or manage anxiety—they’re just… unaware. And that unawareness itself reveals something about their capacity for social attunement and empathy.
What Being Interrupted Reveals About You (And What to Do About It)
If you’re someone who gets interrupted frequently, you might be wondering: is it me? Am I doing something that invites interruption?
Sometimes, yes. Spending time with chronic interrupters can turn you into one. Your brain starts to anticipate being cut off, so you jump in earlier as protection. Or you might speak with long pauses, tentatively, or without assertiveness—all of which can make you seem easier to interrupt.
But often, it’s not about you at all. When interruptions consistently silence certain voices, especially along lines of gender, race, or workplace hierarchy, the message is unmistakable. You’re not inviting interruption—you’re experiencing the effects of power dynamics, bias, or others’ psychological patterns.
What you can do:
Name it directly but calmly: “I wasn’t finished” or “Can I complete my thought?” works remarkably well. Most people will stop when called out gently.
Use the “two-beat rule”: Inhale, count “one, two,” then speak. This gives natural gaps in speech while maintaining your claim to the floor.
Address patterns privately: If someone consistently interrupts you, have a separate conversation: “I’ve noticed you often jump in when I’m speaking. I need you to give me space to finish my thoughts.”
Build your assertiveness: Sometimes we need to speak with more authority, hold the floor more firmly, and refuse to yield when interrupted. This isn’t being aggressive—it’s claiming your right to be heard.
Choose your battles: Not all interruptions are about power. Still, power often sneaks in: status, habit, and who’s used to being listened to. The meaning lives in the pattern more than the moment. Pay attention to who interrupts you, when, and in what contexts. That reveals what’s really happening.
The Deeper Truth About Interruptions
If there’s one thing I want you to walk away with, it’s this: when someone interrupts you, they’re usually revealing something about their own psychology, not making a judgment about the value of your words.
Understanding the why doesn’t mean you have to accept it. You’re still allowed to be frustrated, to set boundaries, to demand to be heard. But when you recognize that the colleague who interrupts is managing status anxiety, or the friend who cuts in is fighting their own insecurity, or the family member who overlaps learned that style at home—it becomes less about you and more about them.
And that shift—from “why don’t they value what I have to say?” to “what’s driving them to interrupt?”—changes everything. It depersonalizes the behavior, which gives you space to respond thoughtfully instead of reacting defensively.
Your words matter. Your thoughts deserve to be heard completely. And you have every right to protect your space in conversations. Understanding why people interrupt just gives you better tools to do exactly that.
Do you find yourself getting interrupted frequently? Have you recognized any of these patterns in the people around you—or perhaps in yourself? Share your experience in the comments below.
And if this post helped you understand interrupting behavior in a new way, please share it. We’re all navigating these conversational dynamics, and sometimes just understanding what’s happening beneath the surface makes it easier to address.