We worry a lot over the mistakes we’ve made, and that’s a good thing up to a point. It can help us become better people. But eliminating mistakes altogether isn’t the best goal — in fact, some studies have shown it makes you more likeable.
Photo by Zhao.
Kevin Lee explains over at Buffer:
Don’t worry about tripping and falling in front of your boyfriend; doing so will only make him like you more. Go ahead and admit your failures to your friends; your humanness will endear yourself to them.
These mistakes attract charm as a result of the Pratfall Effect: Those who never make mistakes are perceived as less likeable than those who commit the occasional faux pas. Messing up draws people closer to you, makes you more human. Perfection creates distance and an unattractive air of invincibility. Those of us with flaws win out every time.
So that moment you’re so embarrassed about? It might not be as bad as you think it is. It might just make you more human. Besides: if you aren’t ever making mistakes, then you aren’t doing anything.
6 Powerful Psychological Effects that Explain how Our Brains Tick [The Buffer Blog]
Comments
3 responses to “Don’t Fret Over Your Mistakes, They Make You More Likeable”
This article is timed perfectly. Today, having spilled a small amount of coffee on my laptop, I noticed to my horror a key wasnt working. I turned it off, but because I’m impatient I thought I’d use a hair dryer to speed up the process.
So, 3 seconds in I’d melted and deformed half a dozen keys and apparently fried done circuitry as it now no longer turns on.
Enjoy the schadenfreude.
I take it the laptop didn’t fit in the microwave? :p
Nope, someone was using the oven too so I couldn’t try that.