Chapter 38 Kennedy's gaffe effect

For a perfect person, if he stumbles once in a while, everyone will breathe a sigh of relief and like him even more. Kennedy is one of the most popular presidents in American history.Wise and wise, he made the grave mistake of invading Cuba from the Bay of Pigs in 1961.Interestingly, after this blunder, opinion polls showed his personal popularity skyrocketed.Why is there such a wonderful phenomenon? In social psychology, this is called the gaffe effect. Because President Kennedy is a near-perfect person. He is young, handsome, smart, witty, physically fit, and articulate; he is the author of a best-selling book, a war hero, and even a statesman with far-sightedness.In addition, he has a prominent family background, a smart and beautiful wife, and well-behaved and motivated children. These advantages are enviable, and in fact they make people breathless.Therefore, an occasional stumble will make people feel that he is more like a person and like him more.

Many experiments have shown that although we like and need competent people, a very competent person can also make us feel a little uncomfortable.Because such a person not only makes us think that he is out of reach, but also sees our own insignificance and humbleness. In fact, we don't like too perfect superman in our hearts.On the contrary, a person who has many abilities, but also has certain deficiencies, or occasionally makes mistakes, is more popular. A perfect person's occasional gaffe will reduce his sense of threat to everyone, let everyone breathe a sigh of relief, and increase his affinity.Some people don't understand the truth, and do everything possible to maintain a perfect image. As a result, they often only get cold respect from others, but cannot make people feel sincere love.

Emerson said he would rather break a leg than go out in trousers with holes.But Einstein couldn't find socks, so he simply didn't wear socks to the banquet.This difference between gaffes and gaffes certainly reflects the different personality profiles of Emerson and Einstein, but it also shows the degree to which people like or dislike them.Of course, the surprise effect of a gaffe is short-lived, let alone repeated.