Know thyself: Misperceptions of actual performance undermine subjective well-being, future performance and achievement motivation
type: CreativeWork
description: Contrary to the popular assumption that self-enhancement improves task motivation and future performance, I propose that both inflated or deflated self-assessments of performance are linked to an increased likelihood of practicing self-handicapping and having relatively poor performance in future tasks. Consistent with this proposal, I found that irrespective of the level of actual performance, compared to accurate self-assessment, both inflated and deflated self-assessments of task performance are associated with a greater tendency to (a) practice self-handicapping (Study 1: prefer to work under distraction; Study 2: withhold preparatory effort), (b) perform relatively poorly in a subsequent task (Study 3), (c) have relatively low academic achievement (Study 4), and (c) report relatively low level of subjective well-being (Study 5). I discuss these results in terms of their educational implications.
abstract: Contrary to the popular assumption that self-enhancement improves task motivation and future performance, I propose that both inflated or deflated self-assessments of performance are linked to an increased likelihood of practicing self-handicapping and having relatively poor performance in future tasks. Consistent with this proposal, I found that irrespective of the level of actual performance, compared to accurate self-assessment, both inflated and deflated self-assessments of task performance are associated with a greater tendency to (a) practice self-handicapping (Study 1: prefer to work under distraction; Study 2: withhold preparatory effort), (b) perform relatively poorly in a subsequent task (Study 3), (c) have relatively low academic achievement (Study 4), and (c) report relatively low level of subjective well-being (Study 5). I discuss these results in terms of their educational implications.
author: Kim, Young H.
language: en
keywords: self-enhancement, self-assessments, motivation, performance, subjective well-being
date published: 2011-01-21T22:45:55Z
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:25:11Z
provider: University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/2142/18556