It may come as news to you, but it didn’t to me, because I, for one, figured it out a long time ago: humblebragging doesn’t work. As an impression-management technique, it’s both transparent and ineffective. In fact, according to a new study from Harvard Business School, you are better off just bragging.
If you have never heard the term before, the authors of Humblebragging: A Distinct – and Ineffective – Self-Presentation Strategy have defined it as “attempting to mask a brag with a complaint”. The idea is that by setting your self-promotion in the context of a world-weary moan, you will somehow disguise its shamelessness.
It is a popular strategy on social media – a typical and oft-repeated example from Twitter goes something like this: “Ugh – Amazon just recommended my own book to me! Already read it, thanks!” It is clear in this instance that the tweeter is trying to couch a boast (“I have a book out, and Amazon recommends it!”) within a gripe (“Amazon’s algorithm has made a silly, if understandable mistake”). In this case, the humblebraggart’s true motivations are all too apparent. And also, so what? Amazon recommends my book to me at least once a week. Why wouldn’t it? It’s great!
According to the Harvard study, humblebraggarts are viewed more negatively than regular braggarts, although neither group is viewed as positively as people who just complain about stuff with no other agenda. The latter two groups are seen as being, at the very least, sincere.
The study uncovered another trove of humblebragging in the classic job interview question: “What is your biggest weakness?” You might as well call it the No Arseholes Need Apply question: since modesty is seen as a positive quality, and weakness a bad one, it encouraged 77% of participants to answer along the lines of, “Well, it’s hard for me to work in a team because I’m such a perfectionist.” Wrong.
Would-be applicants were actually viewed more positively when they admitted an actual weakness, because it seemed to indicate a certain integrity. The humblebrag combines boasting with glaring insincerity, which causes those deploying the technique to be less liked and, presumably, less hired.
One might argue, of course, that incompetence is the real crime of the humblebraggart. In fact, I am arguing that, and I am always right. The true definition of humblebragging takes into account its transparency, and the failure of practitioners to cloak their neediness. If you can’t hide your agenda, you are not using social media properly. The authors of the study may be markedly less clever than me, but their conclusion is clear: complain if you will, brag if you must, but keep the two separate. As if that isn’t just stating the bleeding obvious. Buy my book!
