Knowing More than We Can Tell: People Are Aware of their Biased Self-Perceptions

<p>There is no question that biases exist in people’s self-perceptions of their personality. However, it is not known whether people are aware of these self-biases. In two studies: N = 130), I examined whether people have insight into their positive and negative self-biases across a range of traits. I predicted that self-biases result from self-deception: i.e., the intentional distortion of more realistic self-views), and as such, people should have some awareness of their self-biases. As predicted, people with positive biases: i.e., self-perceptions that are more positive than a reputation-based criterion measure) described themselves as positively biased, and people with overly negative self-views described themselves as negatively biased. These findings suggest that people may know more about themselves than they initially admit, and provide support for the existence of everyday self-deception in people’s views of their personality. Implications for the use of self-reports and the study of self-knowledge are discussed.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Year dc:date.available

2012

Author dc:creator

• Bollich, Kathryn Leigh

Contributors dc:contributor

• Simine Vazire

• self-knowledge
• bias
• individual differences
• Psychology

Language dc:language

English (en)

DOI

https://doi.org/10.7936/K7JW8C0R

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:openscholarship.wustl.edu:etd-2032