Four studies implemented a componential approach to assessing self-enhancement and contrasted this approach with 2 earlier ones: social comparison (comparing self-ratings with ratings of others) and self-insight (comparing self-ratings with ratings by others). In Study 1, the authors varied the traits being rated to identify conditions that lead to more or less similarity between approaches. In Study 2, the authors examined the effects of acquaintance on the conditions identified in Study 1. In Study 3, the authors showed that using rankings renders the self-insight approach equivalent to the component-based approach but also has limitations in assessing self-enhancement. In Study 4, the authors compared the social-comparison and the component-based approaches in terms of their psychological implications; the relation between self-enhancement and adjustment depended on the self-enhancement approach used, and the positive-adjustment correlates of the social-comparison approach disappeared when the confounding influence of the target effect was controlled.

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Readers familiar with Greek mythology will remember Narcissus as an egotistical man who scorned the love of a nymph named Echo and so was cursed by the gods to fall in love with his own reflection in a pond. Enthralled by his own beauty, he refused to leave his image even to eat or sleep, and he slowly wasted away. Some say that was the end to it, whereas others say that he turned into the narcissus flower. Either way, his vanity became his curse, leading to his tragic ending.Many similar cautionary tales of the ancient Greeks, who were strong proponents of accurate self-perception and humility, demonstrate clearly their hearty disapproval of narcissism. Even centuries later, modern psychology looks on it unfavorably enough to deem it a disorder. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1994), individuals with narcissistic personality disorder exhibit a grandiose sense of self-importance and an unreasonable sense of entitlement. These individuals are interpersonally exploitative and have deficits in empathy and a need for excessive admiration (see also chap. 2, this volume).Not many people actually qualify as having a narcissistic personality disorder, although overly positive self-evaluations (i.e., self-enhancement bias) are pervasive in today's U.S. society (Taylor & Brown, 1988). In the 1970s, nicknamed the "Me Decade," people began to turn toward concentrating on their own desires and pleasures. The self began to gain popularity quickly then, and snowballed into the egocentric culture of today.With the recent trend of elevated self-esteem and bigger egos, psychologists have begun to explore the nuances and ramifications of self-enhancement bias, leading to a debate that has spanned 3 decades and continues today. Is self-enhancement good or bad? As it turns out, the answer here, as in any complex situation, is "It depends." Some studies have found that self-enhancement is beneficial to adjustment, whereas other studies have found that self-

We examined the associations and likely pathways between ethnic socialization, ethnic identity, and self-esteem among junior high school students of Chinese Mulao ethnic minority. A total of 469 Mulao students (220 boys and 249 girls) completed the Ethnic Socialization Measurement revised by Yin et al. (2016), the Revised Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM-R) by Roberts et al. (1999), and Rosenberg’s Self-esteem Scale (Chinese Version) by Wang et al. (1999). The main results indicated that adolescents who perceived more promotion of harmony messages tended to report stronger ethnic identity and higher self-esteem. Adolescents who perceived cultural socialization displayed stronger ethnic identity and higher self-esteem, while the promotion of distrust messages was negatively associated with self-esteem. Multiple-group analysis revealed that the relationships were stable across gender, parental education, but varied significantly across students’ grade. These findings emphasize the important role of positive ethnic socialization messages in adolescents’ ethnic identity and self-esteem. In addition, it is also important that we pay attention to negative ethnic socialization messages and consider their grade when communicating ethnic information with adolescents. Finally, our results are analyzed and notable suggestions are presented for ethnic family education.

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