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Thursday, July 2, 2009

Foot-in-Mouth: Why We Do It

Scientists have figured out one surprising reason why we make social gaffes we desperately wish to avoid: Ironically, the very act of trying to avoid saying or doing something can sometimes cause it to happen.

"When these things do happen we sort of smile and look the other way," said Daniel Wegner, a psychologist at Harvard University. "The curious thing is it's the desire not to do those things that seems to increase the likelihood of doing them."

In the July 3 issue of the journal Science, Wegner describes accumulating evidence that suggests many of our embarrassing moments are the result of miscommunications between conscious and unconscious mental processes.

Read the rest here.

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