Q: People who do this, according to Harvard Business School, are perceived as more trustworthy?
A: apologize
PEOPLE WHO APOLOGIZE ARE MORE TRUSTWORTHY: Some may say that apologizing is a sign of weakness, but researchers at Harvard Business School found that it is actually a sign of trustworthiness. People who apologize for things they can’t help like bad weather, or another person’s terrible commute, are showing others that they are empathetic and capable of seeing the world through another person’s eyes. In the Harvard study, these little superfluous apologies helped male undergraduates to convince strangers to do them a favor. They were more successful when they apologized for the rain before asking to use a person’s cell phone than they were when they did not. (NY Mag)
