Related: You Might Be \u2018Masking\u2019 Without Realizing It \u2014 And It Could Be Burning You Out<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWhat I\u2019ve witnessed in my clinical work and certainly within myself as well, is that as we grow up, that fear of authority changes forms and manifests in the workplace with bosses and colleagues,\u201d Josephson said. \u201cSo this feeling of, \u2018Am I in trouble?\u2019 or \u2018Are they mad at me?\u2019 pops up, and it\u2019s often a similar experience to how we may have felt growing up, if we were in an environment where we had to always be \u2018good\u2019 or \u2018perfect.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n What Fawning Looks Like At Work And How It Holds You Back\u00a0 Fawning can be a lifelong habit that can take time to unlearn, so be kind to yourself if you find these self-protective patterns relatable. Illustration: HuffPost<\/p>\n Fawning \u201cis an extreme form of people-pleasing behavior,\u201d\u00a0said Adjoa Osei, a licensed clinical psychologist. Osei said under this coping strategy, professionals often have trouble saying no and with setting boundaries, and are likely to take on excessive work as a way to avoid rejection and conflict with others.<\/p>\n Fawning can also become a common self-defense strategy in toxic workplaces<\/a> with unreasonable co-workers. And it often means pretending to be someone you\u2019re not.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you have a moody, irritable boss, you may learn to fawn and appease them to avoid their anger. If members of your team are gossipy and exclusionary, you may go along with their toxic behavior to avoid being a target,\u201d Appio said. \u201cOr, if your workplace seems to prioritize loyalty and punish dissent, you may fawn to stay in people\u2019s good graces and ultimately keep your job.\u201d<\/p>\n Appio noted that there are two types of fawners: Ones who know they are people-pleasing to survive corporate America and ones who don\u2019t even realize what they are doing.<\/p>\n \u201cIn one case, the person fawning is aware of their preferences, feelings or needs, and consciously overriding those things to maintain harmony and their own security,\u201d she explained. \u201cIn the other, the person fawning struggles to differentiate their own feelings or needs from others. They might not actually know their own preferences. These folks tend to have been exposed more frequently to highly controlling people or environments.\u201d<\/p>\n Not all fawning is bad. \u201cIt\u2019s a brilliant unconscious safety mechanism and sometimes, it\u2019s really helpful and necessary,\u201d Josephson said. \u201cMany fawners are highly successful because of their ability to please, adapt and hold themselves to a standard of perfection.\u201d<\/p>\n But if you do this too much, you will not be successful in your career for long. It can make you appear more junior than you actually are to follow other people\u2019s ideas instead of voicing and defending your own.<\/p>\n \u201cYou might develop a reputation for being good at executing other people\u2019s ideas, but not necessarily contributing your own,\u201d Appio said. \u201cSo you might find yourself being overlooked for management roles or promotions.\u201d<\/p>\n Making yourself say \u201cyes\u201d when you know it\u2019s healthier to say \u201cno\u201d will also put you on the fast-track for\u00a0burnout<\/a>. \u201cYou may find yourself disregarding your own limits, overworking and having your contributions overlooked at the same time, which can make us feel worthless or deeply resentful,\u201d Appio said.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also taxing to constantly be working with this fear festering in your gut.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fawn response can also manifest as this constant feeling that you\u2019re about to get in trouble, feeling like you\u2019re going to get fired whenever your boss says \u2018Can we chat?\u2019, worrying that your colleague is mad at you because they sent you a one-word response,\u201d Josephson said.<\/p>\n What To Do If You\u2019re A Fawner\u00a0<\/p>\n Fawning can be a lifelong habit that can take time to unlearn, so be kind to yourself if you find these people-pleasing behaviors and self-protective patterns relatable. First start by recognizing \u201chow this has kept you safe,\u201d and release any shame or judgment, Josephson said.<\/p>\n![\"Fawning](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/4195bdc54dbd9dd32e6b99a83652c103.jpeg\"\/)
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