“The happy phrasing of a compliment is one of the rarest of human gifts, and the happy delivery of it another,” Mark Twain once said. Receiving sincere compliments feels good, but our anxieties can prevent us from praising others.

Three new studies from the psychology of giving compliments revealed that the fear of ways people would perceive our words doesn’t exist. Once people let go of that awkwardness, we would be able to build and enjoy better relationships with family, friends, and colleagues. In Naomi Grant’s—an associate professor in psychology at Mount Royal University in Calgary—most recent study, people feel better receiving compliments if we give them back. In other words, the more people believe one good deed deserves to be repaid, the higher chances of others follow up a compliment. This strengthens social psychology professor Vanessa Bohn’s research that people fail to realize something small has the potential to be a big impact on others. However, the study itself shows we rarely appreciate the power of words. In conclusion, the fear of giving praise comes from poor social “competence;” we’re worried about how we express ourselves properly.

There’s only one solution to this based on scientific research: share your kind thoughts. It doesn’t require anything special to show appreciation for someone. After all, acknowledging others or giving compliments doesn’t cost anything.