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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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Articles 1 - 4 of 4
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
“Why Didn’T You Just Ask?” Underestimating The Discomfort Of Help-Seeking, Vanessa K. Bohns, Francis J. Flynn
“Why Didn’T You Just Ask?” Underestimating The Discomfort Of Help-Seeking, Vanessa K. Bohns, Francis J. Flynn
Vanessa K. Bohns
Across four studies we demonstrate that people in a position to provide help tend to underestimate the role that embarrassment plays in decisions about whether or not to ask for help. As a result, potential helpers may overestimate the likelihood that people will ask for help (Studies 1 and 2). Further, helpers may be less inclined to allocate resources to underutilized support programs than help-seekers because they are less likely to attribute low levels of use to help-seekers’ concerns with embarrassment (Study 3). Finally, helpers may misjudge the most effective means of encouraging help-seeking behavior - emphasizing the practical benefits …
Are Social Prediction Errors Universal? Predicting Compliance With A Direct Request Across Cultures, Vanessa K. Bohns, Michael J. J. Handgraaf, Jianmin Sun, Hillie Aaldering, Changguo Mao, Jennifer Logg
Are Social Prediction Errors Universal? Predicting Compliance With A Direct Request Across Cultures, Vanessa K. Bohns, Michael J. J. Handgraaf, Jianmin Sun, Hillie Aaldering, Changguo Mao, Jennifer Logg
Vanessa K. Bohns
Previous research conducted in the United States has demonstrated that help-seekers fail to appreciate the embarrassment and awkwardness (i.e., social costs) targets would experience by saying “no" to a request for help. Underestimation of such social costs leads help-seekers to underestimate the likelihood that others will comply with their requests. We hypothesized that this error would be attenuated in a collectivistic culture. We conducted a naturalistic help-seeking study in the U.S. and China and found that Chinese help-seekers were more accurate than American help-seekers at predicting compliance. A supplementary scenario study in which we measured individual differences in collectivistic and …
Empathy Gaps Between Helpers And Help-Seekers: Implications For Cooperation, Vanessa K. Bohns, Francis J. Flynn
Empathy Gaps Between Helpers And Help-Seekers: Implications For Cooperation, Vanessa K. Bohns, Francis J. Flynn
Vanessa K. Bohns
Help-seekers and potential helpers often experience an “empathy gap” – an inability to understand each other’s unique perspectives. Both parties are concerned about their reputation, self-esteem, and relationships, but these concerns differ in ways that lead to misinterpretation of the other party’s actions, and, in turn, missed opportunities for cooperation. In this article, we review research that describes the role-specific concerns of helpers and help-seekers. We then review studies of emotional perspective-taking, which can help explain why help-seekers and helpers often experience empathy gaps. We go on to discuss recent work that illustrates the consequences of empathy gaps between helpers …
Underestimating Our Influence Over Others At Work, Vanessa K. Bohns, Francis J. Flynn
Underestimating Our Influence Over Others At Work, Vanessa K. Bohns, Francis J. Flynn
Vanessa K. Bohns
Employees at all organizational levels have influence over their subordinates, their colleagues, and even their bosses. But are they aware of this influence? We present evidence suggesting that employees are constrained by cognitive biases that lead them to underestimate their influence over others in the workplace. As a result of this underestimation of influence, employees may be reluctant to spearhead organizational change, discount their own role in subordinates’ performance failures, and fail to speak up in the face of wrongdoing. In addition to reviewing evidence for this bias, we propose five moderators that, when present, may reverse or attenuate the …