Submitted 7 months ago by Pro@mander.xyz to science@mander.xyz
https://news.westernu.ca/2025/08/compliment-sandwich-not-effective/
“They’re waiting for the other shoe to drop,” MacMillan explained. “Regularly starting with a compliment to ease into a critique quickly teaches people to be on high alert. They end up ignoring the positive and resenting the negative.”
This sounds like too many people only offer compliments immediately before a complaint. Further down, the article lists alternate strategies, but never gets to the idea of giving intermittent positive reinforcement.
It’s so easy to underestimate positive reinforcement, but it can make a big difference.
Personally, I don’t mind receiving a compliment sandwich as long as the compliments are genuine, and the criticism is constructive.
I can tell when people are doing it, but still appreciate the effort when it’s done right. There are probably better strategies to use, but definitely prefer that to the ultra negative shit on everything management style. I had a boss like that for ~2 years, and it just made every aspect of work so miserable.
It literally skips the greatest tool in behavior modification?! Big oof
Plot twist: it never was 🖕🏽
It works the first couple of times the receiver gets feedback that way. In their entire lives.
I’ve realized that what the article says applies to me – it can be hard to receive positive feedback when you’re anticipating the upcoming “constructive feedback”.
And then you’re left wondering how hard it was for them to come up with the positive stuff. Is the positive stuff all fake just for the purposes of wrapping the “constructive” part?
Frankly, it’s always seemed to me like a polishing of the turd inherent to “Nothing matters before the ‘but’.” It’s exactly that old bullshit, plus another pandering half-thought at the end. The shit sandwich is the fastest way to lose my interest, much less respect. 🤌🏼
No more complimentary sandwich with my order of soup? 😞
No soup for you!
We call it a shit sandwich here
Pretty sure everywhere calls it that. The article emphasizing it by renaming a sandwich for the bread and not the contents in the middle is just a lack of creativity.
porksnort@slrpnk.net 7 months ago
Jfc, it never was effective. Anyone who has ever taken this formula seriously is an emotional moron.