Here's What It Means If You Can't Take A Compliment

Therapists share what this habit says about you -- and what to do about it.

Have you ever replied to a compliment with a self-deprecating rebuttal? For example, when someone praises your clean home you reply with “Oh, don’t look too closely.” Or when someone compliments your outfit, you say something like “Oh, it was cheap.”

If this sounds familiar, there may be a reason why you struggle with simply saying “Thank you.” In fact, our society makes it pretty hard for “Thank you” to be a complete sentence.

We asked therapists what it could mean if you struggle to accept compliments and what you can do to get better at it. Here’s what they said:

As a society, humility is encouraged, making it hard to accept compliments.

“In the U.S., we are taught to be very humble and honestly conservative,” said Emmalee Bierly, a licensed marriage and family therapist, co-owner of The Therapy Group in Pennsylvania and co-host of the “ShrinkChicks” podcast. “Like, the country started absolutely puritanical.”