I'm studying for my SW286 final, and I came upon this in The Social Work Interview:

"The American cultural emphasis on self expression- speaking our mind, having our say- makes silence seem an unacceptable form of behavior. In general social interaction we feel compelled to talk even if we have nothing to say. Those who are silent are suspect and regarded as unfair for their failure to contribute to the conversation. The usual social meaning of silence is rejection . . . We regard silence as a manifestation of social failure. To suggest that you should never break a silence unless you have something worth saying would be regarded as un- American."

I've always been more of an introvert than an extrovert, which for most of my life I've regarded as a bad thing, so I found this quite interesting.