In my research, i’ve found men are less likely to trust a friend’s opinion and more likely to put faith in an expert — someone who is an authority.

Women tend to have more confidence in a friend’s opinion, if they feel that friend is like them.

I see women lose credibilty with men when they cite their personal experience as proof of concept. (I found that out the hard way). Yet, I see them gain credibility with other women when those women think, “I’ve totally had the same experience.”

For example, if a technology expert recommends a digitial camera, that does not hold as much weight with me as a friend who I know and trust saying she loves a certain digital camera.

But there I go citing a pesonal experience as proof
I think it comes down to men’s respect for authority and women’s respect for common experience.

Thanks for the comment. I agree with you 100% and also feel that there’s more than one dynamic at play with negative reviews. A friend on Twitter also pointed out that people are motivated more by fear of loss than hope of gain, which is true.

And yes, in the case of art, criticism seems to require an ability to see the strings and pullies being manipulated by the artist and pointing out the flaws. But most critics just point out the flaws. Not doing so kind of does make one look naive. But again, I also think that if you say “The composition is flawed,” you’re more likely to get a pass on people demanding specifics, while saying “the composition is brilliant” people are more apt to ask you for specifics and substantiation.

- Jeff

Negative comments indeed have a kind of superiority with positive ones. When you go to an art exhibition, for example, and tell everyone how much you liked it, you might come across as naive. If, however, comes Peter and says that he didn’t like how the composition was (even if there was nothing wrong with it), he looks a lot more clever. Further, if Peter’s character is powerful enough, then many people will start to agree with his bullshit so that they wouldn’t seem foolish compared to Peter.

Opinions can be interpreted in so many ways!

Take care,
Zoli