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鈥淛ust won GQ style award in Germany. Obviously they made a mistake. I wonder how long till they come take it back.鈥�

If this tweet by actor Jared Leto sets your teeth on edge, you鈥檙e not alone. A study has revealed that feigning modesty while boasting 鈥� 聽a practice known as 鈥渉umblebragging鈥� 鈥� annoys people even more than outright self-promotion.

Humblebragging comes in two forms, says at the University of North Carolina. It can be expressed as a display of humility, like: 鈥淚鈥檓 so shocked my new book is a bestseller鈥�, or a complaint, like: 鈥淚鈥檝e got nothing to wear after losing so much weight鈥�.

Both types are disliked more聽than outright bragging and are less likely to elicit help or financial generosity from others, according to a series of experiments run by Sezer and her team.

Just won GQ style award in Germany. Obviously they made a mistake. I wonder how long till they come take it back. ;) !

鈥� JARED LETO (@JaredLeto)

In one experiment, they hired a young woman to approach 100 female college students and ask them to sign a petition about a food truck. During her preamble, she asked them about their summer plans. In response, she either bragged: 鈥淭hat鈥檚 cool! I got my dream internship and got funding to travel to Paris鈥� or humblebragged: 鈥淭hat鈥檚 cool! I got my dream internship and got funding to travel to Paris. Ugh it鈥檚 so hard to decide which one to choose鈥�.

After she bragged, 86 per cent of students agreed to sign the petition. But after she humblebragged, only 65 per cent signed it.

Another experiment involving 150 students found they gave 35 cents less on average to humblebraggers than braggers when instructed to award them any amount between $0 and $5.

Other experiments asked volunteers to rate examples of complaints, brags, and both types of聽humblebrag聽for likability and perceived sincerity. None were very popular, but the two types of humblebrags scored the very lowest on both measures.

So why do people humblebrag? Sezer believes the aim is to simultaneously kick two social goals: being respected and being liked. Humblebragging is seen as a way of broadcasting achievements without looking too arrogant, she says.

I just won an ACM, but don鈥檛 worry I鈥檓 still stuck like everyone else in a Taco Bell drive-thru right now.

鈥� Cody Alan (@cmtcody)

However, it fails to satisfy another important social requirement, which is looking sincere, Sezer says. 鈥淓ven though bragging is frowned upon, at least it comes across as sincere,鈥� she says. 鈥淗umblebragging, on the other hand, is a sneaky, strategic thing, and people see straight through it.鈥�

at the University of New South Wales in Australia agrees. 鈥淟ikability, respect and sincerity are like three legs of a stool 鈥� if sincerity is missing, your social image, like the stool, falls over,鈥� she says.

Although we see this clearly in others, we often lack the insight to realise we do it ourselves, says Sezer. 鈥淲hen I started this research, I thought humblebragging was something other people did, but then I caught myself doing it every now and then,鈥� she says.

About to take off from Milan to Istanbul, and none of my three BlackBerrys are working!

鈥� Arianna Huffington (@ariannahuff)

This may explain why the practice is so ubiquitous. The researchers found that 45 per cent of surveyed people had witnessed at least one humblebrag in the last 24 hours. They also found that social media was a common source. 鈥淚 think humblebragging has been around all along but social media makes it much more visible,鈥� Sezer says.

The research raises a conundrum 鈥� what should you do if you achieve something impressive? Should you not tell anyone and miss out on respect, damage your likability by bragging, or threaten your sincerity by humblebragging?

Sezer recommends other avenues. One option is to ask a trusted wingman to tell others about your accomplishments. 鈥淭hen you get the credit without having to do the bragging,鈥� she says.聽 You could also announce the achievement yourself but make sure to credit the people who helped you, she says. 鈥淭hen you look warm and communal, which people find attractive.鈥�