It’s natural to want others to like and respect us, but worrying too much about thoughts others hold about you could injure your mental health. Chances are your classmates have zero recollection of that middle school moment, your colleagues already forgot you left your mic on during the morning Zoom meeting, and your friends didn’t think that bold outfit from Friday night was too over-the-top. And yet, we still spend untold energy worrying about how other people perceive us. Any amount of praise is immediately overshadowed by one piece of criticism. Caring about what other people think of us is an evolutionary adaptation, much like the majority of other seemingly meaningless features shared by humans. Being accepted by others and forming a group or tribe was essential for survival. We may not require tribes to thrive in the modern world, but we still want interaction and camaraderie from other people. Because humans are social animals, it is quite natural and almost inevitable to give weight to what other people think of you. A brain imaging study revealed that the brain has chemical reactions, or biophysical reactions, to both positive and negative feedback from others. In particular, those with social anxiety experience a great fear of being negatively evaluated.
