Is it always wise to disclose good news? We find that the worst sender with good news has the most incentive to disclose it, so reporting good news can paradoxically make the sender look bad. If the good news is attainable by sufficiently mediocre types, or if the sender is already expected to be of a relatively high type, withholding good news is an equilibrium…. [Our] predictions are tested by examining when economics faculty at different institutions use titles such as “Dr” and “Professor” in voicemail greetings and course syllabi.
So says the study “False Modesty: When Disclosing Good News Looks Bad,” Rick Harbaugh and Dr. Theodore To, 2007. The authors are respectively at Indiana University and at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
(Thanks to investigator G. Jules Reynolds for bringing this to our attention.)