Accentuate the Negative: The Positive Effects of Negative Acknowledgment

Authors: Ward, Andrew¹; Brenner, Lyle²

Source: Psychological Science, Volume 17, Number 11, November 2006 , pp. 959-962(4)

Publisher: Blackwell Publishing

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Abstract:

Three studies investigated the capacity of negative acknowledgment, the admission of an unfavorable quality, to elicit relatively positive responses. In Study 1, an acknowledgment that a written paragraph was confusing led individuals to rate the paragraph as clearer than they did when no acknowledgment was offered. In Study 2, a foreign speaker was rated as possessing a clearer voice when he acknowledged his strong accent than when he did not. In Study 3, a hypothetical college applicant's acknowledgment of receiving less than stellar high school grades resulted in a more positive evaluation of those grades. The interpersonal risks and benefits of negative acknowledgment as an impression-management strategy are discussed.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01812.x

Affiliations: 1: Swarthmore College and 2: University of Florida

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