Mum Effect

Despite the folk wisdom that “no news is good news,” almost everyone is reluctant to communicate bad news. For example, your best friend, Tom, has applied for a job that he wants very badly. You learn that he will definitely be offered the job. You can hardly wait to tell him the good news. You will take pleasure in letting Tom know all the details. Now, contrast this with your feelings if you learn that Tom will definitely not get the job he wants so much. In this case, you probably feel awful and do not look forward to communicating the news to Tom. You might even decide to say nothing about what you found out. This reluctance to communicate bad news is very strong ...