A recent research study found that many people exhibit the same levels of stress when hosting a dinner party as they do when preparing their income tax returns. According to this study, this stress has to do with people's fear of how they will be perceived by others. This fear of being judged is not a primary concern of most other living beings. As humans, we often seem to be bombarded by threats to our ego, and these skirmishes take up a great deal of time and often cause us to spend a great deal of money trying to defend ourselves from our own imaginations. People try to change themselves, their appearance, presentation, and setting, in order to impress others. And apparently, more than a few people are even afraid of having others visit their home because of what might be revealed.

Gary Thorp, Sweeping Changes