A new study out of the Netherlands' Utrecht University shows verbal put-downs can feel "akin to receiving a small slap in the face" by those on the receiving end of the insult. For the research, 80 female subjects had electroencephalography (EEG)and skin conductance electrodes attached to them before being read a series of insults (i.e. "Linda is an idiot"), compliments ("Linda is an angel") and neutral, factual statements ("Linda is a student"). Half of the statements used the subjects' actual names, while the other half used someone else's name. They were told the statements were made by men. The study found that the verbal barbs caused a "P2 amplitude that was highly robust over repetition", meaning they got under the participants' skin, even though the subjects knew they were taking part in an experiment. The research shows that insults deliver lexical "mini slaps" in the face.
A reader writes: "I work in influencer marketing and we hired an Instagram influencer to work on a yoghurt brand campaign. As part of the activation, we also sent a tie-dye kit and branded swag for them to make tie-dye shirts, hats, etc, with their friends or family. One of the influencers pulled the tie-dye ink out of the T-shirt kit and used it to tie-dye her yoghurt bowl, took a video of herself eating it, then shared the video with her followers who ultimately alerted her that you can't eat tie-dye ink. This was, of course, our fault (the agency) for not being clearer that the tie-dye kit was not edible."
