There is a strange contradiction in the way people sometimes respond to praise. You may spend weeks hoping someone notices your work, appearance or effort, only to feel awkward when they finally say something nice. You smile, look away, laugh or immediately explain why the compliment is not really deserved. "You look great today" becomes "Really? I barely did anything." "That presentation was excellent" gets answered with "It wasn't that good." Psychology suggests this reaction is not necessarily ingratitude or false modesty. For some people, especially those with negative or uncertain self-views, a compliment can create a mismatch between how they see themselves and how another person sees them.
Research by psychologists David Kille, Richard Eibach, Joanne Wood and John Holmes found that people with lower self-esteem had more difficulty accepting and benefiting from compliments, partly because positive feedback conflicted with their existing self-beliefs.
