Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-ttngx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-01T14:08:04.232Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Positive illusions and positive collusions: How social life abets self-enhancing beliefs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 January 2010

Jonathon D. Brown
Jonathon D. Brown
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-1525. jdb@uw.eduhttp://faculty.washington.edu/jdb
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Most people hold overly (though not excessively) positive self-views of themselves, their ability to shape environmental events, and their future. These positive illusions are generally (though not always) beneficial, promoting achievement, psychological adjustment, and physical well-being. Social processes conspire to produce these illusions, suggesting that affiliation patterns may have evolved to nurture and sustain them.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 32 , Issue 6 , December 2009 , pp. 514 - 515
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alicke, M. D. (1985) Global self-evaluation as determined by the desirability and controllability of trait adjectives. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 49:1621–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baumeister, R. F. (1989) The optimal margin of illusion. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 8:176–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Billig, M. & Tajfel, J. (1973) Social categorization and similarity in intergroup behavior. European Journal of Social Psychology 3:27–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brewer, M. B. (1979) In-group bias in the minimal intergroup situation: A cognitive-motivational analysis. Psychological Bulletin 86:307–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, J. D. (1986) Evaluations of self and others: Self-enhancement biases in social judgments. Social Cognition 4:353–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, J. D. (1991) Accuracy and bias in self-knowledge. In: Handbook of social and clinical psychology: The health perspective, ed. Snyder, C. R. & Forsyth, D. F., pp. 158–78. Pergamon Press.Google Scholar
Brown, J. D. (1998) The self. McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Brown, J. D. (2003) The self-enhancement motive in collectivistic cultures: The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 34:603–605.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, J. D. (2007) Positive illusions. In: Encyclopedia of social psychology, ed. Baumeister, R. & Vohs, K., pp. 615–17. Sage.Google Scholar
Brown, J. D., Cai, H., Oakes, M. A. & Deng, C. (2009) Cultural similarities in self-esteem functioning: East is East and West is West, but sometimes the twain do meet. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 40:140–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, J. D. & Kobayashi, C. (2002) Self-enhancement in Japan and America. Asian Journal of Social Psychology 5:145–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, J. D. & Kobayashi, C. (2003) Motivation and manifestation: The cross-cultural expression of the self-enhancement motive. Asian Journal of Social Psychology 6:85–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cai, H., Brown, J. D., Deng, C. & Oakes, M. A. (2007) Self-esteem and culture: Differences in cognitive self-evaluations or affective self-regard? Asian Journal of Social Psychology 10:162–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cai, H., Wu, Q. & Brown, J. D. (2009) Is self-esteem a universal need? Evidence from the People's Republic of China. Asian Journal of Social Psychology 12:104–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunning, D., Heath, C. & Suls, J. M. (2004) Flawed self-assessment: Implications for health, education, and the workplace. Psychological Science in the Public Interest 5:69–106.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
James, W. (1890) The principles of psychology, vol. 1. Holt.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kobayashi, C. & Brown, J. D. (2003) Self-esteem and self-enhancement in Japan and America. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 34:567–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marshall, M. A. & Brown, J. D. (2007) On the psychological benefits of self-enhancement. In: Self-enhancement and self-criticism: Theory, research, and clinical implications, ed. Chang, E., pp. 19–35. American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Murray, S. L., Holmes, J. G. & Griffin, D. W. (1996) The benefits of positive illusions: Idealization and the construction of satisfaction in close relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 70:79–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tajfel, H., Billig, M. G., Bundy, R. F. & Flament, C. (1971) Social categorization and intergroup behavior. European Journal of Social Psychology 1:149–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, S. E. (1989) Positive illusions: Creative self-deception and the healthy mind. Basic Books.Google Scholar
Taylor, S. E. & Brown, J. D. (1988) Illusion and well-being: A social psychological perspective on mental health. Psychological Bulletin 103(2):193–210.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Taylor, S. E. & Brown, J. D. (1994a) Illusion of mental health does not explain positive illusions. American Psychologist 49:972–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, S. E. & Brown, J. D. (1994b) Positive illusions and well-being revisited: Separating fact from fiction. Psychological Bulletin 116(1):21–27.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed