New research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology offers some reassuring insights for anyone who has ever hesitated to decline an invitation to a social event. The study found that people tend to overestimate the negative consequences of saying no to an invitation. Specifically, invitees—those invited to join a social activity—believe that declining an invitation will upset the inviter more than it actually does. The inspiration for this study came from a very common scenario: the hesitation many people feel when deciding whether to decline a social invitation. Whether…