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The Effect of Comparative Direction and Comparative Gap on Self-Deception.
Ying Yang1,2, Bowei Zhong3,4, Wenjie Zhang2,5
1Department of Psychology, School of Education Science, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, People's Republic of China.
Psychology Research and Behavior Management
|August 5, 2024
Summary
Social comparison influences self-deception. Individuals engage in self-deception more when comparing themselves to others who perform better, especially with a large performance gap, to protect their self-esteem.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Self-deception involves holding inflated beliefs about one's abilities.
- Social comparison significantly impacts human behavior and decision-making.
- Individuals may inflate their abilities when comparing themselves to others.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the impact of social comparison on self-deception.
- To investigate how comparison direction and gap size influence self-deceptive behavior.
Main Methods:
- Two behavioral experiments were conducted with undergraduate students.
- Experiment 1 involved upward and downward social comparisons.
- Experiment 2 analyzed the combined effects of comparison direction and gap size.
Main Results:
- Self-deception was more prevalent in upward comparison scenarios.
- A notable performance gap, especially in upward comparison, increased self-deception.
- Participants in the large gap group exhibited more self-protective behaviors.
Conclusions:
- Individuals use self-deception as a protective mechanism against threatening social comparative information.
- Strong negative emotions and perceived unfairness in large-gap comparisons drive self-deception.
- Findings highlight the role of self-deception in managing social comparison outcomes.
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