Exam 6: Being Impressive by Making Others Feel Good

Jack wants to flatter Tim who just developed a system to purify the air in the company office building. Tim perceives himself to be doing highly technical, specialized work. A recommended flattering statement Jack might make to Tim is

A study with members of the board of directors indicated that executives who ingratiated themselves to CEOs, were more likely to receive board appointments to other boards where the CEOs served as members.

Flattery tends to work well as a form of enhancing others because most people

A study about the effectiveness of flattery and praise suggested that people who perceived themselves to be technically oriented, had

A basic approach to flattery is to

Being politically correct will often enhance others because it respects their uniqueness and dignity rather than slighting them in some way based on a demographic characteristic.

According to balance theory, to attain balance in a relationship, a person whose positive attitudes were not reciprocated might develop negative attitudes toward the other person.

During a presentation a woman executive showed a high level of political correctness when she said, "I want to especially thank my right-hand man Donna Maxwell for all she has done for the company."

An astute flatterer will express high positive regard for attributes about which the actor is insecure such as physical appearance or presentation skills.

A key reason that ingratiation is important is that

A basic form of flattery is to make the target feel important such as bringing his or her accomplishments to the attention of the group.

Ralph knows that his boss Nancy feels she needs to improve her knowledge of corporate finance. So while complimenting Nancy in other areas, to be a more effective flatterer, Ralph makes an occasional comment such as, "Nancy, I think you neglected the importance of a couple of financial ratios in your last presentation."

A study of high-level managers found that managers who ingratiated themselves toward a CEO who was a board member at another firm were

According to balance theory we attempt to attain a balance between liking and disliking people with whom we interact regularly.

The sincerity or insincerity of flattery is often revealed by the

A study showed that for ingratiation to work well as a tactic of impression management, the actor needed

A study of high-level managers found that interpersonal influence in the form of ingratiation substitutes to some extent for

One recommended way of increasing the power of flattery is to

A study with members of the board of directors indicated that directors increased their chances of gaining a board appointment at another board if they engaged in high levels of monitoring and controlling the CEO.

Conforming to the opinion of another person enhances his or her feelings of well being while at the same time improving the relationship between the two people.