Again you made the mistake of repeatedly making statements about the diet you would embark on "after the holidays," and again you did not take any steps in that direction? According to a new study recently published in the European Journal of Social Psychology, the reason (well, let's face it – the excuse) you give in conversations with your acquaintances will determine whether they will see you as weak people who don't keep their word or who happen to find themselves in unfavorable circumstances. We've used ChatGPT to help you make the right excuse.
Dr. Yanina Steinmetz, whose official title is a "marketing reader" at Bayes Business School at the University of London, examined how people can maintain the respect of their colleagues even when they don't meet their decisions. The key, it seems, lies in the artistic choice of excuses.
The study, based on six trials involving about 1,200 people, reveals a keen understanding of the impact of stated reasons for not meeting targets; Dr. Steinmetz identifies two common excuses: lack of time and lack of money. The discovery is that these excuses are not created equal, and affect very differently how people are perceived after abandoning their obligations. Dr. Steinmetz found that attributing decision abandonment to lack of money was perceived as more acceptable than attributing lack of compliance to lack of time.
In one experiment, participants read about people who failed to meet their commitments to adopt a healthier diet. Some blamed the high cost of "healthy" ingredients, while others attributed their failure to a paucity of time. Surprisingly, those who resorted to financial constraints were perceived as having better self-control, and more attractive as potential gym partners in the eyes of participants.
The nuances of perception, Dr. Steinmetz suggests, revolve around the perceived control created by the excuse. A lack of money, often seen as an external limitation, gives a semblance of control over the situation, and improves the image of the individual. On the other hand, lack of time is perceived as something over which a person has more control, and therefore his inability to find time indicates a lack of self-control.
The study's findings have implications for health campaigns. According to Steinmetz, healthy living organizations can offer short workouts and affordable ingredients to prepare fast, healthy meals, and challenge the other excuse—lack of time. She adds that although she did not focus on these areas, there is a high chance that even in dates and job interviews, when it comes to personal failures, it is always worthwhile to give them reasons over which the person has no control, so that his failures will be perceived as caused by forces greater than himself and not by his lack of determination to succeed.
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