Research explains psychology of helping others feel better about personal disappointments

Personal and professional conversations about triumph and disappointment happen every day, but what is the most appropriate way to react when others share their news with us? New research by Bayes Business School (City St George's, University of London) reveals that a common reaction is to mirror success with our own successes and failure with our own failures. Across nine experiments with more than 8,000 participants, deeper analysis suggests this reflects attempts to show empathy while reducing a sense of boastfulness.