When Did Sincerity Become so… “Cringe”?

Photo by Valeriia Miller on Unsplash

Once upon a time, sincerity was the social equivalent of a warm handshake: reassuring, trustworthy, and generally welcomed in any room.

But in the 2020s, sincerity has become more like an awkward high-five that accidentally turns into a fist bump — it’s embarrassing, often inciting winces from onlookers… and no one really knows how to handle it.

How did we get here?

When did earnestness become the emotional equivalent of wearing socks with sandals?

And why does the word “cringe” feel like the ultimate condemnation in modern culture?

Here is my what I think happened with sincerity’s long, slow descent from virtue to liability.

The Golden Age of Sincerity (pre-WiFi days)

There was a time when being sincere wasn’t just encouraged — it was expected, even revered.

Take Christianity, for instance, where the Bible admonishes believers to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15) and to avoid falsehoods at all costs. The sincerity of one’s confession or prayer was considered a direct line to spiritual redemption.

Similarly, in Confucianism, the concept of cheng (often translated as “sincerity”) was not just a virtue but a cosmic principle. Confucius…