Here you'll find some important tips based on research in the science of psychology that will help get your boss to like you. Everyone knows that a boss who likes you is the difference between a happy and a miserable life.

Consider the following: Adam has just been promoted by his manager. Both Adam and Betty went out of their way to do extra work without complaining. They helped other new employees, assisted their manager without being asked, and their organization benefitted equally from them.

But Chris, the manager, promoted only Adam--although Betty had better education and more experience on the job. In fact, Betty has been passed over for promotion for the third time. Now Betty feels miserable because her boss has not rewarded her extra efforts and she really needs the money. Why didn’t Chris promote Betty? What could be going on in Chris’s head? After all he’s known to be one of the best managers in the company?

One explanation for the manager’s behavior might be his suspicion about Betty’s motivation. In other words, Chris might think that Betty is only trying to further her own personal interests, not those of the company—even though Betty’s sincerely trying hard to be a good company citizen.

A psychological study (In the Eyes of the Beholder: An Attribution Approach to Ingratiation and Organizational Citizenship Behavior by Dr. Kenneth K. Eastman) confirms that the same behavior at work might be interpreted differently by managers. Employees viewed as good company citizens receive more and greater rewards than others seen as self-interested or simply average. So, it is more important how your managers interpret your behavior, not the behavior itself.

Because it is more important how your boss sees your behavior, before getting your boss to like you, you should know the criteria he or she uses. Here’s a question: How do you know when your extra efforts at work are perceived as sincere? The answer can be found in the attribution theory of behavior, the theory suggesting how people explain the behavior of others. Factors that influence explanation of the behavior of others, according to the attribution theory, are consistency, distinctiveness, and consensus.

Dr. Eastman found that consensus—the degree to which others show the same behavior to the same object—is the factor that influences a manager’s perception of an employee’s behavior. In other words, while judging your behavior, your boss will take into account what others are doing and how they are doing it. Ultimately the right image of the motives you project to your boss will get him to like you—not the actual motives.

Here’s my interpretation of Dr. Eastman findings. My view does not take into account whether your motives for advancement at work are self-interest or sincere organizational citizenship:

Because bosses differ in many ways—background, values, heredity, environment, they will have different standards for evaluation of motives. Thus, you should first study your boss to learn his or her standards. Learn who your boss labels as apple-polisher or brown-noser (self-interested not likely to get rewards) and who as good employee or hard-worker (organizational citizen likely to gain rewards). Find out who your boss has promoted or has given rewards to. See if you can duplicate the image that person reflected on your boss.

Say your boss always cuts some slack to your equally hard-working colleague: a whole-month vacation, easy shift, promotion. At the same time, you get only two weeks vacation, the worst shift, and no promotion. If so, ask yourself if you are projecting the wrong image. See what your colleague is projecting to your boss. Your colleague might be assisting your other colleagues, but not as much your boss—which your boss could be interpreting as “Well, he must be sincere, he’s not an apple-polisher.” You, on the other hand, might be too helpful to your boss, and he sees the opposite image of what you want to project.

Some may find my advice self-interested, but after all, this is practical psychology I’m talking about—not ethical psychology.