WORK SMARTER NOT HARDER: Will It Hurt Your Friendship to Turn Down a Holiday Party Invitation?
December 12, 2023 10:30AM CST
Holiday Party – 4 friends bar drink couples celebrate KL SC MM DL 2014 – Maura Myles Image
Study: It’s Okay to Decline Holiday Party Invitations
Do you have trouble saying no to holiday invites? A study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology now shows that turning down invitations to parties probably won’t impact your relationships as negatively as you might think.
In five experiments, involving 2,000 people, participants imagined either declining an invitation or receiving a “no” to a social invitation. Those who turned down the invitation believed the act would impact their friendship. But the person who was told “no, thank you,” did not actually feel a strong impact.
“Across our experiments, we consistently found that invitees overestimate the negative ramifications that arise in the eyes of inviters following an invitation decline,” Dr. Julian Givi of West Virginia University said.
In other words, folks seem to be generally understanding of multiple or conflicting holiday events as well as stressors.
(Learn more, here: Study Finds)
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