Members in the Media
From: LiveScience

Kind Words Can Lead to Harsh Consequences

LiveScience:

Politeness has a place, but not in high-stakes situations, according to researchers.

Whether a pilot is making an emergency flight or a doctor is trying to help a patient make a surgical decision, the sort of vague, evasive responses that help us avoid hurting someone’s feelings can have disastrous consequences, according to a team of scientists, including Jean-François Bonnefon and Wim de Neys of the National Center for Scientific Research and the University of Toulouse in France, and Aidan Feeney of Queen’s University in the United Kingdom.

The more sensitive an issue, the more polite we tend to become, according to the researchers.

Read the full story: LiveScience

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