Be Completely Honest with Everyone for the Next 3 Days

Cool study by Levine and Cohen: Participants randomized to either be kind, be completely honest, or just be self-observant (control) for 3 days. The honesty group significantly underestimated how enjoyable the experience will be. We always tell people to be kind but we rarely encourage them to be completely honest. Maybe that's one reason people find psychotherapy rewarding -- because it's a place where they can be completely honest.

 

Source

Appendix A. Verbal Instructions for Three-Day Communication Intervention in Study 1a
All conditions:
   In this study, you will be asked to reflect upon your social communication. Often, speaking with others requires balancing honesty and kindness. Being completely open and honest about our thoughts, feelings, and opinions, can sometimes upset others and be unkind. Alternatively, being kind, considerate, and helpful towards others sometimes means not being 100% honest.
 Control:
 Throughout the next three days – that means today, tomorrow, and the following day - please be conscious of the way you communicate with others. Please act as you normally would throughout the length of this study. You should not change your behavior, but you should be conscious of it. You should act as you normally would with your closest relational partners. However, you should NOT tell them, or anyone else, any specific information about this study. They can only know that you were asked to pay special attention to your interpersonal communication. After the study has ended, you can share any information you’d like about this study.

Please think about what it means to be conscious of your communication. Feel free to raise your hand if you have questions. [field questions, wait for a moment] Is everyone ready to continue? If so, you can complete the next link on your computer.
 Honesty:
 Throughout the next three days – that means today, tomorrow, and the following day - be honest in every conversation you have with every person you talk to. Really try to be completely candid and open when you are sharing your thoughts, feelings, and opinions with others. You should be honest in every conversation you have, in every interaction, with every person in your life. Even though this may be difficult, try your best to be honest.

Being authentic, honest, and true to oneself are important virtues. Embrace these virtues every day for the next three days. When someone asks you how you feel, tell them the truth. That means saying you feel happy only when you feel happy and saying you feel sad when you feel sad. When you are giving your opinion, be completely honest. You should provide positive opinions only when you truly feel positive, and you should provide negative opinions when you feel negative. You should be particularly honest with your closest relational partners. However, you should NOT tell them, or anyone else, any specific information about these instructions. They can only know that you were asked to pay special attention to your interpersonal communication. After the study has ended, you can share any information you’d like about this study.
Please think about what it means to be completely honest. Feel free to raise your hand if you have questions. [field questions, wait for a moment] Is everyone ready to continue? If so, you can complete the next link on your computer.
 Kindness:
 Throughout the next three days – that means today, tomorrow, and the following day - please strive to be kind in every conversation you have with every person you talk to. Really try to be caring and considerate when you are sharing your thoughts, feelings, and opinions. You should be kind in every conversation you have, in every interaction, with every person in your life. Even though this may be difficult, you should do your absolute best to be kind. Being kind and helpful, and avoiding harming others are important virtues. Embrace these virtues every day for the next three days. When someone asks you how you feel, give a kind answer. That means taking their feelings and state of mind into consideration. When you are giving your opinion, be kind. You should provide opinions kindly and focus on the needs and feelings of those around you.

You should be particularly honest with your closest relational partners. However, you should NOT tell them, or anyone else, any specific information about these instructions. They can only know that you were asked to pay special attention to your interpersonal communication. After the study has ended, you can share any information you’d like about this study.

Please think about what it means to be kind. Feel free to raise your hand if you have questions. [field questions, wait for a moment] Is everyone ready to continue? If so, you can complete the next link on your computer.