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  • April 16, 2019
  • Article
  • Harvard Business Review (website)

Research Confirms: When Receiving Bad News, We Shoot the Messenger

By: Leslie John, Hayley Blunden and Heidi Liu
  • Format:Electronic
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Abstract

Most jobs require us at some point to deliver bad news—whether it be a minor revelation such as a recruiter telling a prospective employee that there’s no wiggle room in salary, or something major, like when a manager must fire an employee. We dread such discussions even when the revelations aren’t at all our fault. It turns out that our aversion is for good reason. Our research shows that people are prone to derogating those who tell them things they don’t want to hear—we shoot the messenger.

Keywords

Interpersonal Communication; Perception; Judgments

Citation

John, Leslie, Hayley Blunden, and Heidi Liu. "Research Confirms: When Receiving Bad News, We Shoot the Messenger." Harvard Business Review (website) (April 16, 2019).
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About The Author

Leslie K. John

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • December 2022
    • Current Opinion in Psychology

    Kindness in Short Supply: Evidence for Inadequate Prosocial Input

    By: Jennifer E. Abel, Preeti Vani, Nicole Abi-Esber, Hayley Blunden and Juliana Schroeder
    • November 2022
    • Psychological Science

    Opportunity Neglect: An Aversion to Low-probability Gains

    By: Emily Prinsloo, Kate Barasz, Leslie K. John and Michael I. Norton
    • August 2022
    • Journal of Marketing Research (JMR)

    The Bulletproof Glass Effect: Unintended Consequences of Privacy Notices

    By: Aaron R. Brough, David A. Norton, Shannon L. Sciarappa and Leslie K. John
More from the Authors
  • Kindness in Short Supply: Evidence for Inadequate Prosocial Input By: Jennifer E. Abel, Preeti Vani, Nicole Abi-Esber, Hayley Blunden and Juliana Schroeder
  • Opportunity Neglect: An Aversion to Low-probability Gains By: Emily Prinsloo, Kate Barasz, Leslie K. John and Michael I. Norton
  • The Bulletproof Glass Effect: Unintended Consequences of Privacy Notices By: Aaron R. Brough, David A. Norton, Shannon L. Sciarappa and Leslie K. John
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