Do you also brush it off if someone gives compliments to you?

This post is based on my recent experience, and I am starting this with questions. 

Do you also brush it off if someone gives compliments to you? Do you also not believe if someone says nice things to you? 

My whole life, I have always thought that compliments are always welcome by every human being. I always thought, how come someone won't like to hear nice things about themselves? However, a few people's responses from others recently made me think about it. The responses were like- Oh no, I think my luck was on my side or Oh, it's an old dress, or It's my job. 

The most interesting one was when I was genuinely giving a compliment to someone who is reducing weight with a disciplined workout and she negated the compliment, possibly sulking away. I'm pretty sure she didn't mean to do it, it just happened. 

I dig a little deeper and found from my online research that in a study conducted in Boston a few years ago, around 70% of people associated feelings of embarrassment or discomfort with praise or compliment.

A New York-based social worker Lisa Schuman explains that there can be many reasons for not accepting compliments, such as social anxiety, low self-esteem, and negative experiences from the past.

Specifically, people with low self-esteem feel uncomfortable with praise or compliments because they contradict their own self-views, they check their own perceptions of themselves, whether those are positive or negative.

Below mentioned are some reasons why accepting compliments are difficult for some people, check if you also have these traits:

A) Their self-image is not in the agreement with the compliments. For example, someone says you lost weight, and your response is -oh no, I keep gaining it no matter how many workouts I do. This may help you to overcome the anxiety for a time being, but on the other side, you are creating a negative self-image of yourself.

B) Low self-esteem is one of the biggest reasons for people not accepting compliments or praise as mentioned in a Study. It is very tough for low-esteem people to accept compliments. If someone thinks they have some flaws or are not good enough, then those people always be suspicious of how someone else can see positives in them.

C) People are not comfortable with high expectations of others. They assume if someone is complimenting then it means that person wants something in return or increases their extra work, or expects more, what if you fail? This can be a terrifying situation and one avoids praise. This happens due to self-doubt. ScienceDirect's study shows that people with self-doubt always try to keep the bar low and keep low expectations.

D) Or you just wanted to sound humble so that people won't think you are arrogant after listening to their praise.

E) It can also be the reason if you had grown up in a very critical environment, where you had to prove your worth to your parents in front of your siblings, you always wanted to seek validation from your parents and try to showcase yourself as a self-dependent or tough person. But all used to go in vain and you were getting no or little praise. This also makes you uncomfortable with compliments. 

F) Social anxiety also plays a major role in accepting compliments. For example, in past social relationships, people gave you compliments only to fulfill their needs and later left you on an edge, living in fear and uncertainty. Due to this also people avoid compliments. 

So, what's the solution: 

The only solution to this is to accept the compliments gracefully. It may be awkward to you but don't add this to your personality. 

Live in the present and be grateful for all the compliments you receive.  Let go of the habit of self-criticism and start accepting compliments and praise in a kind & gentle way. You only need: "Thank You" in response to any compliment. 

The law of the universe also says- Positive attracts positivity, so accept compliments and it will attract more praise in your life.

Thank you!