Humblebrag

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Humblebragging is the behavior of boasting under the pretenses of a complaint or modesty. The term was coined by comedian Harris Wittels.

Contents

Etymology

The term humblebrag was first used in 2010 by Harris Wittels as the name of his Twitter account, @Humblebrag, where he would retweet posts he considered to be humblebrags. [1] [2] The posts was later developed into a Grantland column. [3] In 2012, he published a book about the concept, Humblebrag: The Art of False Modesty. [1] [4] The popularity of the word led the American Dialect Society to proclaim it their most useful Word of the Year for 2011. [5]

Presentation

Humblebragging is one method of bragging while avoiding seeming impolite and breaking social rules. Multiple rhetorical techniques have been used in humblebragging, including asking questions, complaining, and presenting information in a seemingly objective way. [6]

Psychological impacts

Studies on humblebragging suggest that it generally makes worse impression on others than standard bragging. [7] [8] [6] While humblebragging would appear to make one seem competent and likable, due to its lack of sincerity, it is ineffective and makes one seem both more unlikable and less compitent. [9] Wittels claimed that humblebragging "can only serve to make people jealous of the posters and/or hate them". [10] [6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Harris Wittels, Parks and Rec writer who coined 'humblebrag,' dies at 30". 20 February 2015.
  2. Alford, Henry (30 November 2012). "If I do Humblebrag So Myself". The New York Times.
  3. "Harris Wittels: The man behind #humblebrag". Los Angeles Times . 20 February 2015.
  4. Noriega, Margarita (22 May 2015). "Harvard Business School study proves the humblebrag is a useless waste of time". Vox. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  5. Tarpley, Mallary Tenore (2012-01-09). "2011 Word of the Year shows how old words take on new meanings". Poynter. Retrieved 2025-06-03.
  6. 1 2 3 Zuo, Baiyao (2023). ""I don't mean to humblebrag"—on the reception of humblebrags from a cognitive-pragmatic perspective" . Journal of Pragmatics. 218: 165–179. doi:10.1016/j.pragma.2023.10.011.
  7. Ducharme, Jamie (10 January 2018). "Humblebragging Makes People Dislike You, According to Science". Time. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  8. Plata, Mariana (July 11, 2018). "The Psychology of Humblebragging | Psychology Today". Psychology Today.
  9. Sezer, Ovul (2017). "Humblebragging: A Distinct—and Ineffective—Self-Presentation Strategy". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 114 (1): 23. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  10. Wittels, Harris (September 25, 2012). Humblebrag: The art of false modesty. New York City: Grand Central Publishing. ISBN   978-1455514182.