Praise and Prejudice

Praise? For me? Photo credit: BigstockPhoto.com. copyright Koldunov

We all know people who have problems to deal with criticism. They might try to put on a good show in the eye of some more or less constructive feedback, but inside they are boiling and plotting revenge for this injustice. It seems criticism is a hard pill to swallow for the majority of humans. There are always reasons why we are not responsible for whatever is criticised by someone else. The same people usually have no problem accepting praise.

However, there is also another group of people who deal quite well with criticism. Prone to self-reflection and willing to take ownership of anything they are remotely involved, They accept criticism as a way to self-improve.

However, faced with an honest praise, this type of person easily blushes and tells you that it was all a great team effort. A person with this character just can’t help herself and immediately tries to weigh the own contribution and how much was attributed to luck.

I wonder what causes these different reactions to external feedback? Is it just ego?

It seems to be somewhat counter-intuitive as you would think people either take ownership of good and bad outcomes (internal locus of control) or blame the circumstances (external locus of control).