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- Awkward social interactions often lead us to be overly nice and generic to others.
- Research by social psychologists shows that in these uncomfortable interactions, people tend to engage in anxious niceness, which involves giving general compliments and avoiding direct feedback.
- Physiological responses, such as increased heart rate and blood pressure, are common during awkward interactions.
- Nonverbal behaviors, such as fidgeting and avoiding eye contact, are also prevalent in these situations.
- People from racial minority groups often experience anxious niceness from others, as individuals try to manage their own anxiety about appearing prejudiced.
- Excessive niceness can harm performance, as it may prevent individuals from receiving constructive feedback or knowing where they need to improve.
- General positive feedback, without specific examples or data, can harm a person’s reputation in professional contexts.
- To improve feedback in the workplace, it is important to assess how many people are truly on board with the niceness culture.
- Feedback should be framed in terms of general versus specific and things to keep doing versus things to stop.
- Positive feedback should be specific and focus on particular behaviors or actions.
- Negative feedback should also be specific, addressing specific behaviors that need to be corrected.
- When giving negative feedback, it is important to provide alternatives or suggestions for improvement.
According to the talk, there were no specific statistics mentioned.
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