People would hate you a lot less if you just straight-up bragged instead of pretending to be humble

Self-effacing humor is definitely a staple of the 2017 sad-meme-aesthetic, but it could be coming at a steep price.

Enter the humblebrag: The subtle act of letting others know you realize you’re the shit, with a sprinkle of apologetic mockery to gloss it off and make it ~casual~*.

A brief history of incredible humble brags on twitter

Everyone is guilty of it, but women are particularly so

Women “aren’t supposed to brag.” And so we’re more likely to preface an intelligent statement with “I think,” or “I guess,” while men are more likely to shout out their talents, and lie about limitations.

It’s not only annoying, it’s damaging

According to new research from Harvard Business School, humblebragging is “damaging our professional prospects,” as well as “enraging our friends.”

Participants were asked to review humblebrags that were phrased as both complaints and humility versus normal bragging, and humblebraggers were consistently rated as less competent and likable than those who shared their news in a straightforward manner.

Even when women do “brag,” or are confident in what we’re saying, we’re humble about it — afraid of seeming uncharacteristically aggressive in announcing our achievements. But the study says, “When making social judgments, people often value sincerity above traits like warmth or competence.”

And while men can probably hit the breaks a bit on brags, the study suggests women would benefit from bragging more openly to help close the gap.

Your humblebrags are just pissing people off.

@carolinephinney