Dispositional Traits Versus the Content of Experience: Actor/Observer Differences in Judgments of the "Authentic Self"

Johnson, Joel T.; Boyd, Kenneth R.

doi:10.1177/0146167295214008

Cited by 17 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…There may well be exceptions at the individual levelperhaps psychopaths seem deeply flawed only to observers and vice versa for the clinically depressed. There also seem to be some perspective-based differences in the kinds of content attributed to the true self, with people believing that experiences best reflect their own true selves, whereas general dispositions best reflect others' ( Johnson & Boyd, 1995). Nonetheless, perspective independence in valence is the pattern that obtains at the population level.…”

Section: The True Self Is Perspective-independentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sometimes it is called the real self (Koole & Kuhl, 2003; Masterson, 1988; Rogers, 1961; Sloan, 2007; Turner, 1976), the ideal self (Chodorkoff, 1954; Higgins, 1987; D. T. Kenny, 1956), the authentic self (Cable, Gino, & Staats, 2013; Johnson & Boyd, 1995), the intrinsic self (Arndt, Schimel, Greenberg, & Pyszczynski, 2002; Schimel, Arndt, Pyszczynski, & Greenberg, 2001), the essential self (Strohminger & Nichols, 2014), or the deep self (Sripada, 2010).…”

Section: The Features Of the True Selfmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The True Self: A Psychological Concept Distinct From the Self

Strohminger

Knobe

Newman

2017

Perspect Psychol Sci

279

196

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A long tradition of psychological research has explored the distinction between characteristics that are part of the self and those that lie outside of it. Recently, a surge of research has begun examining a further distinction. Even among characteristics that are internal to the self, people pick out a subset as belonging to the true self. These factors are judged as making people who they really are, deep down. In this paper, we introduce the concept of the true self and identify features that distinguish people's understanding of the true self from their understanding of the self more generally. In particular, we consider recent findings that the true self is perceived as positive and moral, and that this tendency is actor-observer invariant and cross-culturally stable. We then explore possible explanations for these findings and discuss their implications for a variety of issues in psychology.

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Section: The True Self Is Perspective-independentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Features Of the True Selfmentioning

confidence: 99%

The True Self: A Psychological Concept Distinct From the Self

Strohminger

Knobe

Newman

2017

Perspect Psychol Sci

279

196

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“…This concept also appears to have an impact in people's lives. For example, beliefs about the true self have been shown to influence attributions about behavior (Johnson & Boyd, 1995;Johnson, Robinson, & Mitchell, 2004;Landau et al, 2011;Newman, De Freitas, & Knobe, 2015;Newman, Bloom, et al, 2014;Sripada, 2010), assessments of others' lives (Newman, Lockhart, & Keil, 2010), beliefs about the meaning of life (Schlegel, Hicks, Arndt, & King, 2009;Schlegel, Hicks, King, & Arndt, 2011), decision making (Schlegel, Hicks, Davis, Hirsch, & Smith, 2013), and general measures of well-being (Kernis & Goldman, 2004;Schimel, Arndt, Pyszczynski, & Greenberg, 2001).…”

Section: The Good True Selfmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consistent Belief in a Good True Self in Misanthropes and Three Interdependent Cultures

et al. 2017

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People sometimes explain behavior by appealing to an essentialist concept of the self, often referred to as the true self. Existing studies suggest that people tend to believe that the true self is morally virtuous, i.e., that, deep inside, every person is motivated to behave in morally good ways. Is this belief particular to individuals with optimistic beliefs or people from Western cultures, or does it reflect a widely held cognitive bias in how people understand the self? To address this question, we tested the good true self theory against two potential boundary conditions that are known to elicit different beliefs about the self as a whole. Study 1 tested whether individual differences in misanthropy -the tendency to view humans negatively -predict beliefs about the good true self in an American sample. The results indicate a consistent belief in a good true self, even among individuals who have an explicitly pessimistic view of others. Study 2 compared true self-attributions across cultural groups, by comparing samples from an independent country (USA) and a diverse set of interdependent countries (Russia, Singapore, and Colombia). Results indicated that the direction and magnitude of the effect are comparable across all groups we tested. The belief in a good true self appears robust across groups varying in cultural orientation or misanthropy, suggesting a consistent psychological tendency to view the true self as morally good.

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“…This notion of a true self plays an important role in many areas of psychology. For example, beliefs about the true self have been shown to influence attributions about behavior (Johnson & Boyd, 1995; Johnson, Robinson, & Mitchell, 2004; Landau et al, 2011; Sripada, 2010), assessments of others’ lives (Newman, Lockhart, & Keil, 2010), beliefs about the meaning of life (Schlegel, Hicks, Arndt, & King, 2009; Schlegel, Hicks, King, & Arndt, 2011), decision making (Schlegel, Hicks, Davis, Hirsch, & Smith, 2013), and general measures of well-being (e.g., Kernis & Goldman, 2004; Schimel, Arndt, Pyszczynski, & Greenberg, 2001). The notion of a true self is also prevalent in many areas of society—from Polonius’s “To thine own self be true,” to advertisements for yoga retreats (“Unlock your soul and become your authentic self”), to the standard advice given to job interviewees and nervous adolescents: “Just be yourself.”…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Value Judgments and the True Self

Newman

Bloom

Knobe

2013

Pers Soc Psychol Bull

215

228

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The belief that individuals have a "true self" plays an important role in many areas of psychology as well as everyday life. The present studies demonstrate that people have a general tendency to conclude that the true self is fundamentally good--that is, that deep inside every individual, there is something motivating him or her to behave in ways that are virtuous. Study 1 finds that observers are more likely to see a person's true self reflected in behaviors they deem to be morally good than in behaviors they deem to be bad. Study 2 replicates this effect and demonstrates observers' own moral values influence what they judge to be another person's true self. Finally, Study 3 finds that this normative view of the true self is independent of the particular type of mental state (beliefs vs. feelings) that is seen as responsible for an agent's behavior.

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Dispositional Traits Versus the Content of Experience: Actor/Observer Differences in Judgments of the "Authentic Self"

Cited by 17 publications

References 17 publications

The True Self: A Psychological Concept Distinct From the Self

The True Self: A Psychological Concept Distinct From the Self

Consistent Belief in a Good True Self in Misanthropes and Three Interdependent Cultures

Value Judgments and the True Self

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