Research by a West Virginia University expert indicates that individuals often refrain from joining others’ plans through self-invitation due to concerns that their requests may not be well-received. Julian Givi, associate professor of marketing at WVU’s John Chambers College of Business and Economics, conducted eight experimental studies to explore the assumptions and responses regarding self-invitations to group activities.
Givi’s findings, published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, reveal that people are generally more open to self-invitations from friends than presumed. This hesitation, according to Givi, is unfortunate given the benefits of social activities. He states, “When we make plans with someone, we have to think about what to do, how long it’s going to take, when we’re doing it, how we’re getting there, how much it will cost — many considerations that make it easy to forget to invite additional people along.”
The research suggests a societal reluctance to intrude, driven by inaccurate predictions about others’ reactions. Givi notes, “Our hesitation to self-invite is linked to our reluctance, as a society, to intrude on others, a reluctance that’s based on faulty predictions we make about others’ reactions.”
Participants in the studies reflected on scenarios where they or others invited themselves to activities, evaluating irritation or annoyance levels, and predicting others’ reactions. Some avoided self-invitations due to concerns about logistics or skepticism about the likelihood of requests being granted. Despite eliminating these possibilities, avoidance of self-invitations persisted.
Givi points out exceptions, such as activities between people with established relationships and everyday outings like movies or lunch, as opposed to more formal events like weddings. He says, “Certainly one takeaway from our work is that we should all worry a tad less about annoying our friends and could start asking to join plans more often.”
###
