Dale Carnegie's theory inadequate to judge others' feelings

New York, [USA] June 21 (ANI): A new study has claimed that Dale Carnegie's theory of "put yourself in their shoes" and relying on intuition or "gut instinct" is not accurate to determine what the other person is thinking or feeling.

"We incorrectly presume that taking someone else's perspective will help us understand and improve interpersonal relationships," said researchers.

The researchers according to the study said that for an accurate understanding of what someone is thinking or feeling, one must ask and not assume.

They have debunked the theories introduced by Dale Carnegie's 'How to Win Friends and Influence People', which enumerated the face that assuming to understand someone else's thoughts, feelings, attitude, or mental state is a correct approach to interpersonal insight.

The study included a series of 25 experiments designed to separate accuracy from egotism.

The researchers then asked participants to adopt another person's perspective and predict their emotions based on facial expressions and body postures, identify fake versus genuine smiles, spot when someone is lying or telling the truth and even predict a spouse's activity preferences and consumer attitudes.

"Initially a large majority of participants believed that taking someone else's perspective would help them achieve more accurate interpersonal insight," the researchers said.

The researchers said that the test results showed that predictive assumptions were not generally accurate although it did make the participants feel more confident about their judgment and reduced their egocentric biases.

Ultimately, the researchers confirmed that gaining perspective directly through conversation is the right approach.

The study appears in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. (ANI)

This story has not been edited. It has been published as provided by ANI