A research-backed argument for why we underestimate the impression we make on others.
February 14, 2024
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Do people understand the impressions they make on others or do their anxieties lead them to assume the worst? Across nearly 10 years of research and tens of thousands of observations, the authors have come to this answer: people underestimate how much others like them, and this bias has important implications for how people work together.
Initial conversations can have an outsized impact on how relationships develop over time. Naturally, people often dwell on the impressions they might have made the minute they finish speaking with someone for the first time: “Did they like me or were they just being polite?” “Was my pitch funny or offensive?” “Are they deep in thought or deeply bored?”
Erica Boothby is a postdoctoral researcher at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where she teaches negotiations. Her research broadly focuses on social connection and the psychological barriers that inhibit connection, with consequences for people’s personal and professional lives. Prior to arriving at the Wharton School, Erica completed her PhD at Yale University and worked at Cornell University’s Behavioral Economics and Decision Research Center.
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Gus Cooney is a social psychologist who studies conversation and social interaction. He teaches Negotiations at the Wharton School.
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Adam Mastroianni is a social psychologist and research scholar at Northwestern University. He teaches negotiations to MBAs and executives and writes the popular science newsletter Experimental History.
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Andrew Reece is a behavioral data scientist at BetterUp.
Gillian Sandstrom is a senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Sussex. Her research focuses on how to make difficult conversations a little easier (e.g., talking about cancer, miscarriage, bereavement) and how to encourage people to talk to strangers.
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Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : Harvard Business – https://hbr.org/2024/02/people-probably-like-you-more-than-you-think