Liking gap
The liking gap is the disparity between how much a person believes that another person likes them, and that other person's actual opinion. Studies have found that most people underestimate how much other people like them and enjoy their company. Theories for why the gap exists This misunderstanding or gap has multiple factors that lead to or contribute to it. First, people tend to be overly self-critical and ruminate more on what they have said. In turn people tend to not think too much about what the other person said. People are often very self-absorbed and think that everyone is judging them. An example of this is the spotlight effect. The spotlight effect is when people think everyone is looking and judging them more than they are. Another example is the illusion of transparency, which refers to people's tendency to think that everyone knows exactly what they are thinking when in reality they do not. Second, in conversations people tend to be as polite as possible, especially in first encounters. This politeness is a kind of façade people use which can cause people to misunderstand how much the other person likes them. Third, people tend to protect against rejection. One