5. Acting too nice
It makes logical sense that the nicer and more altruistic you seem, the more people will like you. But some science suggests otherwise. In a 2010 study, researchers at Washington State University and the Desert Research Institute had college students play a computer game with four other players, who were really manipulations by the researchers. Here’s how one of the study authors explained the study procedure in The Harvard Business Review:
“Each participant was placed in a five-person group, but did not see its other members. Each was given endowments that they could in their turn choose to keep or return, in whole or in part. There was some incentive to maximize one’s holdings, but not an obvious one. “(The participants were told that, at the end of the semester, a random drawing of their names would be held and those few who were chosen would have their holdings converted to Dining Services coupons redeemable at campus eateries.)”
Some of the fake participants would give up lots of points and only take a few vouchers — a rather altruistic behavior. As it turns out, most participants said they wouldn’t want to work with their unselfish teammate again. In a similar, follow-up experiment in the same study, some said the unselfish teammate made them look bad; others suspected they had ulterior motives.
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