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Times Life
Times Life
Lifestyle
Aishwarya Kapoor

3 Science-Backed Ways to Respond to Criticism Without Getting Defensive Every Time

Ethan Kross Chanakya Daniel Kahneman Priya Brain UC Berkeley UCLA University of Michigan King Charles III

Your Brain Treats Criticism Like a Predator

Your heart rate spikes within 200 milliseconds of hearing critical feedback directed at you. Psychologist Ozlem Ayduk at UC Berkeley, whose research on self-distancing appeared in Psychological Science, has documented how quickly the brain's threat-detection system hijacks the processing of social information. The amygdala doesn't distinguish between a tiger and a manager saying "your report missed the point." Both register as danger. Both trigger the same cascade: cortisol, elevated heart rate, tunnel vision, the urge to fight or flee.

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