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REAL LIFE NEWS: HOW YOUR NAME CAN HELP YOU GET PROMOTED

by Hazed

A new study shows that if your name is easy to say you are more likely to get promoted than those with complex, hard-to-prounounce names.

Researchers found that a ‘name pronunciation effect’ operated when people are perceived by colleagues and by friends, and that the easier a person’s name was to say, the better their success was in the workplace, and the faster they were promoted.

What’s more, those with simpler names find it easier to make new friends.

“The effect is not due merely to the length of a name or how foreign-sounding or unusual it is, but rather how easy it is to pronounce,” said Dr Simon Laham from Melbourne University.

The team investigated how names can influence someone’s impressions of a person, and their decision-making about the person. They examined dozens of surnames from different nationalities using 500 volunteers who were university students from Anglo, Asian and European backgrounds, and 500 American lawyers.

One of the interesting findings was that those with more ‘pronounceable’ names were more likely to win political office. It’s nothing to do with whether the names are ‘foreign-sounding’, just how easy they are to say.

So anyone wanting to do well, who has a long and complicated name, might want to consider changing it to something simple - like Smith!

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/9071704/Having-an-easy-to-say-name-will-help-you-get-promoted.html

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