08.14.12
WSJ scribe discovers Americans are braggarts
In part, you can blame the economy. In the most competitive job market in memory, the lesson is clear: You must demonstrate—on multiple platforms—that you excel above all others …
We’ve become so accustomed to boasting that we don’t even realize what we’re doing. And it’s harmful to our relationships because it turns people off …
So how should you deal with a braggart?
“Feel sorry for them, because they’re doing this impulsive, destructive thing that won’t help them in the long run,” says Simine Vazire, a research psychologist and associate professor at Washington University in St. Louis. Research on self-enhancement shows that people who brag make a good first impression, but that it diminishes over time.
When Ian McKenzie, 30, a schoolteacher in Lincoln, U.K., goes out to dinner with his wife and their friends, he says, everyone soon gets around to bragging—about the gadgets and cars they own, their kids, their vacations …
I always thought it was much a national thing as personal. That is, we take our cues from our leaders.
“Mission Accomplished!”
Some blog bits on the national character trait, bragging.
And here.