Category: research

As some of you may know, I’m currently undergoing my PhD studies. As part of my research, I have to submit pieces of my work to journals in the hope that they will get published. As part of the journal submission process, there is a blind peer review. This involves a total stranger reading my work and judging whether it is worthy of publication. This is an aspect of research that has always terrified me, as I fear being judged harshly and rejected.

For as long as I can remember I have feared the judgement of others. I envy those people who can say that they ‘don’t care what others think’, but I also question the authenticity of their statement. We all want to feel loved and accepted, no matter what we say. For as long as there’s been people on this earth, they have judged each other. It happens all of the time, often subconsciously. We judge people by how they look, sound and even the type of music they listen to (I still get some strange looks when I admit I’m impartial to some Westlife from time to time).

I recently had my first journal accepted and published, it wasn’t easy and I had some negative reviewers the first time round (one of them took a particular disliking to me using the word ‘plethora’ and from then on I’ve made it my personal goal to use this word at least once a day). Despite this negativity I got there in the end and this has got me reflecting upon the feelings of judgement I felt. I thought I would share a little bit of information from studies that I’ve recently found on the fear of being judged by others that I found interesting .

Firstly I found that we are aware of how we are judged by others before we can even talk. A recent study (Link here) found that toddlers were very aware that other people may be evaluating them. Further to this, toddlers will alter their behaviour to get a positive response from others. This study highlights how judgement is a natural instinct, there’s no avoiding it.

Another interesting study I found regards the origins of the fear of judgement (known in some cases as social anxiety). The study suggest that social anxiety is contagious and parents or carers may even pass it onto their children. But it is not something that is passed on genetically, but rather through a child’s environment. Children who witness their parents acting anxiously are more liable to start to feel the same sense of anxiety in certain situations (Full study link here).

But why do we fear the judgement of others in the first place? I found a really useful article that I felt offered a reasonable explanation to this. This article explains how the fear of being judged is often a reflection of our own insecurities. The fear arrises because of the following two assumptions you make in your own mind:

• You assume you’ve done something that is going to make others judge you harshly. This is usually just a reflection of your own fears.
• You assume the other person feels the same way and will also judge you harshly. This is often a projection of your own thoughts onto someone else.

So in my case, I was so anxious because I thought the work I did was complete rubbish, which was just my own opinion and not a matter of fact. I also thought all reviewers were critical and harsh, another assumption I made based on others stories about the feedback they had received. In reality most of the feedback I received was positive and constructive in nature, so my assumption was proven to be wrong. I encourage you to think about a situation in which you have feared judgement and try to obtain whether your thoughts are rational. I did this and I’ve found it a useful exercise going forward in life.

Another thing to take away from this post is that some people are going to judge you no matter what (it’s natural instinct and as Taylor swift sings ‘haters gonna hate’), the only thing you can change is how you react to it. Take some time for yourself and try to take the focus off others, this is definitely something that I will try to do in the future. I’ve also always believed that judging someone does not define who they are; it defines who you are, so lets be a little kinder to each other.

So there you have it, a bit about judgement. I hope you have found reading this plethora of knowledge as interesting as I did researching it. Feel free to judge this piece and add your own judgmental experiences below.