Recently, running late for my train to work, I bolted from the house without using my hair-in-a-can. That’s the sprayable hair color I use between dye jobs. I arrived at the office with snow-white tufts on my temples.
Rather than trying to avoid my co-workers, I thought back to a study I’d read about earlier this year. Researchers had found that when someone made a harmless misstep in public, and then laughed at their own blunder, others saw them as warmer and more authentic. So when I made it to work, I set the tone right away by announcing that I was aware of my temple tufts and of my resemblance to Paulie Walnuts of “The Sopranos.” “When you can laugh at yourself, that signals that you have some self-acceptance,” said Ovul Sezer Peck, an assistant professor of management and organizations at Cornell University and an author of that study, which was published in The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
Sezer Peck and other experts how to bounce back quickly when you’ve committed a gaffe, and how humor can help. Say that you’re reaching for a word that never shows up in your mind, you told a joke that didn’t land or you knocked over your glass of water at lunch. Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
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