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Related Experiment Videos

Real self-deception.

A R Mele1

  • 1Department of Philosophy, Davidson College, NC 28036, USA. almele@davidson.edu

The Behavioral and Brain Sciences
|March 1, 1997
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Self-deception is not paradoxical. Motivationally biased beliefs, not intentional deception, explain how people deceive themselves, resolving common paradoxes in cognitive bias research.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Cognitive Science

Background:

  • Self-deception is often viewed as an intrapersonal form of interpersonal deception.
  • This view creates conceptual puzzles regarding intentionality and belief states in self-deception.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To challenge the traditional view of self-deception as intentional deception.
  • To propose an alternative model for understanding the nature and causes of self-deception.
  • To resolve paradoxes associated with self-deception using cognitive bias research.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of existing literature on self-deception and interpersonal deception.
  • Integration of empirical findings on cognitive biases.
  • Conceptual critique of traditional models and empirical claims.

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Main Results:

  • Self-deception is not necessarily intentional or paradoxical.
  • Cognitive biases, particularly motivationally biased beliefs, are central to self-deception.
  • Traditional paradoxes are resolved by understanding the role of biased belief acquisition.

Conclusions:

  • Self-deception is explicable through cognitive mechanisms, not mental exotica.
  • Understanding motivationally biased beliefs is key to comprehending self-deception dynamics.
  • The traditional intentional model of self-deception is fundamentally flawed.