Many people are obsessed with not making mistakes, especially in public. We are ashamed of stumbling in front of others or making mistakes in speech. The desire not to make mistakes is so intense that in some cases it becomes an obsession. The person focuses so much on preventing failures that, in the long run, their performance is affected and those around them may confuse this insecurity with a distant, cold or even snobbish attitude.
However, actually making a mistake in front of other people increases our attractiveness, making others like us better. Why? Simply because others will perceive us as someone closer and will feel deep empathy for what has just happened to us. This is what is known in Psychology as the “Pratfall Effect”.
Perfect performance does not increase likability
It all began in 1966, when a group of psychologists at the University of Minnesota recruited several students. They were tasked with listening to a recording of a supposed College Bowl competitor (although it was actually an actor). The recording was an interview where very difficult questions were asked. In one case, the competitor acted like a very competent person with 92% correct answers, but in the other case he appeared to be mediocre, with only 30% correct.
At the end, the competent competitors summarized all their academic achievements while the mediocre ones referred to a regular course. In some cases, a small error was also included.
After listening to the recording, the students had to say how pleasant and friendly they found the competitors. Thus, the psychologists were able to see that when the competent competitor made a mistake in the end, his level of attractiveness and acceptance increased. However, this effect was not seen when it was the mediocre competitors who made mistakes.
Of course, over the years similar experiments have been repeated and researchers have obtained similar results, also discovering that the Pratfall Effect is more intense in men than in women and that it is not as marked when the person doing the comparison has a very high self-esteem.
Why?
The explanation lies in self-esteem and our tendency to compare. In practice, people who perform too perfectly call into question our competence by comparing us to them. When we lose, we tend to feel less empathy for the other.
However, when you make a mistake, the comparison balances out and our self-esteem no longer feels threatened. Therefore, they automatically become closer persons and we can identify with them more easily. In this way, we are likely to judge them as people more likable and pleasant.
Obviously, this is just a cognitive bias, but it is also a little trick that those who always perform close to perfection can put into practice, since this way they will be able to connect better with others and relieve that pressure to do things the right way.
The Pratfall Effect in Marketing
This effect not only applies to the area of interpersonal relationships but also to Marketing. In fact, we normally think that if a salesperson points out the defects of the product he intends to sell, he is committing suicide from a professional point of view. However, a study carried out at Stanford University tells us that this is not always the case.
On that occasion, the psychologists took on the task of selling chocolate bars. Some were in perfect condition but others were broken and the defect was clearly visible since they were wrapped in transparent paper. The researchers offered all the bars with the same discount and, when they were broken, they made it known.
Thus, they discovered that when people were absorbed in a task, for example, when they were worried about an exam they would soon have or were talking to someone, they sold twice as many defective bars as those that were in perfect condition, even if they cost the same.
Therefore, in certain circumstances, highlighting a defect does not affect the sale, on the contrary.
References:
Ein-Gar, D., Shiv, B., & Tormala, Z. L. (2012) When blemishing leads to blossoming: The positive effect of negative information. Journal of Consumer Research; 38(5): 846-859.
Aronson, E., Willerman, B., & Floyd, J. (1966) The effect of a pratfall on increasing interpersonal attractiveness. Psychonomic Science; 4(6): 227-228.
