All too often, people who develop exceptionally astute insights into others remain mysterious to these others. Evidence for such asymmetric understanding comes from several independent domains. Striking asymmetries occur among those who differ in status and power, such that individuals with low status and power understand more than they are understood. We show that this effect extends to people who merely perceive that they have low status: individuals with low self-esteem. Whereas people with low self-esteem display insight into people with high self-esteem, people with high self-esteem fail to reciprocate. Conceptual analysis suggests that asymmetries in mutual understanding may be reduced by addressing deficits in information and motivation among perceivers. Nevertheless, several interventions have been unsuccessful, indicating that the path to symmetric understanding is a steep and thorny one. Further research is needed to develop strategies for fostering understanding of those who are most misunderstood: people with low self-esteem, low status, and low power.

很多时候，对他人发展出异常敏锐洞察力的人对其他人来说仍然是神秘的。这种不对称理解的证据来自几个独立的领域。地位和权力不同的人之间出现了惊人的不对称，以至于地位和权力低下的人理解的比他们理解的要多。我们表明，这种影响延伸到那些仅仅认为自己地位低下的人：自尊心低下的人。低自尊的人对高自尊的人表现出洞察力，而高自尊的人则无法回报。概念分析表明，通过解决感知者之间的信息和动机缺陷，可以减少相互理解的不对称。然而，几次干预都没有成功，表明通往对称理解的道路是一条陡峭而棘手的道路。需要进一步的研究来制定策略来促进对那些最容易被误解的人的理解：自尊心低、地位低和权力低的人。