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social dynamics
Small mistakes actually make you more likable.
The pratfall effect shows that highly competent people may become more appealing after a minor blunder, whereas the same mistake can make an average person appear less attractive.
The effect is contingent on the subject's baseline level of competence.
Your blunders are social assets when you are already trusted.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Aronson, Willerman, and Floyd, 1966
- What the check found
- The original claim generalizes the effect, failing to note that it is contingent upon the subject's baseline competence as established in the 1966 study.
- Confidence
- Solid, with limits
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.