People Don’t Like Anything (or Anyone) Moving Toward Them

The study: In eight experiments, doctoral student Yanping Tu and three collaborators—Christopher K. Hsee of the University of Chicago and Zoe Y. Lu and Bowen Ruan of the University of Wisconsin—found that people feel more negative toward individuals, images, and sounds if those “stimuli” are perceived to be approaching them. This aversion has cautionary implications for public speakers who like to get close to their audience as well as for marketers who zoom in on products in ads. The challenge: Are people really repelled by anything coming toward them—even if it’s a friend or a vacation? Ms. Tu, defend your research. Tu: Our research shows that people feel more negative toward stimuli when the stimuli appear to be oncoming in space. Our experiments included a range of images, such as English letters, a poster from a Chinese opera, a happy-face emoticon, and a picture of a smiling man. What’s more, we found the same effect with nonphysical stimuli—such as a cousin’s visit or other events—that were approaching in time or increasing in likelihood. People felt increasingly negative about a poster showing a character from a Peking opera as it was wheeled toward them. HBR: An approaching smiley face? That sounds like a scene from a nightmare. And a smirking stranger? No wonder research subjects got the creeps when these things came at them. First we measured people’s feelings toward the images and events, so we were sure participants considered them to be positive. The happy-face emoticon was rated as 4.49, on average, on a 1-to-5 scale where 5 was “very positive.” Neutral-face and frowning-face emoticons were rated 3.18 and 1.59, respectively. The responses to the images of the man were similar: When he was smiling, neutral, or frowning, he was rated 5.14, 3.86, or 2.92, respectively, on a 1-to-7 positivity scale. In the experiments all the ratings declined when the stimuli were perceived to be approaching. But what about the approach of a person I love? Or of a welcome event? When I first put this interview on my calendar, I thought, “How wonderful—an opportunity to share my research!” But as the date neared, I grew apprehensive. What if I got a question I couldn’t answer? What if I couldn’t explain myself well? Even very positive things can have negative aspects, which become more prominent in our minds as they draw close. As for someone you love: Chances are, you feel a bit more fretful as the person approaches—you might worry that the person will ask something of you, for example—but those feelings may be overwhelmed by your happiness at being reunited. So you’re experiencing layers of feelings—some negative, most positive. In our research we tried to tease apart those confusing layers by comparing people’s feelings toward a gradually approaching individual with their feelings about someone who simply stayed near. We were able to show that although you may feel positive toward a loved one who approaches, you feel less positive than you would if that person were to remain near you. My gut tells me that if I’m speaking to a group, my listeners will react more favorably if I get out from behind the podium and approach them. Indeed they might. It’s all about those layers of feelings. If you step out and get close to your listeners, they might perceive you as warm and friendly—that’s one layer. But an undercurrent of negative feeling will increase as you get nearer. Without being able to articulate it, your listeners might feel intimidated or threatened. They might feel you’re invading their space. Same goes for a manager walking toward an employee. The manager probably doesn’t realize that with every step, the employee feels more negative about the manager. So it is one thing to stand close to people and quite another to walk closer to them. The effect also may apply to ads showing products moving toward the viewer. If it’s a beautiful new car, the viewer might be pleased on one level that it’s closer. But on another, she’ll feel negative about its approach. To reduce other factors that might influence the subjects’ reactions, we usually had subjects view computerized images that grew larger and therefore appeared to approach. How do you know participants didn’t perceive that they were approaching the stimuli? In general, people perceive an enlarging image to be coming toward them. However, when we suggested to participants that they were approaching the stimuli, rather than the reverse, the aversion disappeared. We tested this on the image of the neutral-faced man. Approaching him didn’t make participants feel worse about him, as it did when subjects thought he was approaching. What about the time aspect: Should my editors stop making such a big deal about my deadlines? The mind often treats space and time similarly. So a temporally approaching event can also be unsettling. It’s quite possible that a manager can unwittingly increase an employee’s negative feelings about a project by reiterating an approaching deadline. It would be especially annoying if the manager first scheduled a task, such as a meeting, for a time in the distant future and then moved it closer. Even if employees initially felt neutral about the meeting, the change would make them dread it. Increasing an event’s likelihood causes similar effects. What got you thinking about this topic? I’d love to say we had an Isaac Newton moment when we discovered the “law” of approach aversion—that we saw a beach ball rolling toward us and wondered how we felt about it—but in truth, we were talking about what it’s like to be at a social event. You see someone in the crowd and think, “Hmm, that’s an attractive person. I’d like to talk to that person.” As he or she approaches, your feelings start to change. You worry, you fret, you feel threatened. We wondered: Why does that happen? And why does it? It probably has to do with evolution. People evolved to understand that stimuli pose a greater danger if they’re approaching, and we’re still wired that way. Just as, through eons of searching for food, we evolved a belief that scarce things are good, which is why we grab the last blue dress off the rack, even if we don’t need another blue dress—speaking from experience here. How can a public speaker or a marketer apply your findings? You might be better off starting a speech near the audience—maybe a short distance from the front row—and staying there. Show your product in close-up. Beware of moving toward people, shoving a product in their direction, or moving an event up. Their evolutionary instincts will kick in, and their opinion of you, the product, or the event will start to fall. Interview by Andrew O’Connell

People Don’t Like Anything (or Anyone) Moving Toward Them

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