The Why's the Limit: Curtailing Self‐Enhancement With Explanatory Introspection

Abstract

Self-enhancement is linked to psychological gains (e.g., subjective well-being, persistence in adversity), but also to intrapersonal and interpersonal costs (e.g., excessive risktaking, antisocial behavior). Thus, constraints on self-enhancement may sometimes afford intrapersonal and interpersonal advantages. We tested whether explanatory introspection (i.e., generating reasons for why one might or might not possess personality traits) constitutes one such constraint. Experiment 1 demonstrated that explanatory introspection curtails selfenhancement. Experiment 2 clarified that the underlying mechanism must (a) involve explanatory questioning rather than descriptive imagining, (b) invoke the self rather than another person, and (c) feature written expression rather than unaided contemplation. Finally, Experiment 3 obtained evidence that an increase in uncertainty about oneself mediates the effect. Introspection and Self-Enhancement 3The Why's the Limit: Curtailing Self-enhancement with Explanatory IntrospectionMost people, most of the time, see themselves through rose-colored glasses. Whether rating themselves as above-average on personality traits and abilities (Alicke, 1985) or believing themselves less susceptible to bias than the average person (Pronin, Yin, & Ross, 2002)-whether showing selective recall for flattering autobiographical episodes (Sanitioso, Kunda, & Fong, 1990) or engaging in social comparisons that validate a positive self-view (Dunning, 1999)-whether attributing their successes internally and their failures externally (Mezulis, Abramson, Hyde, & Hankin, 2004) or thinking that their own future will surpass that of their peers (Weinstein, 1980)-people by and large evaluate themselves more favorably either than the objective facts warrant (Gosling, John, Craik, & Robins, 1998) or than external observers think justified (Epley & Dunning, 2000). Tellingly, people even believe that they outdo their own doppelgangers: they rate themselves more favorably than they rate their peers on the basis of identical behavioral evidence (Alicke, Vredenburg, Hiatt, & Govorun, 2001). Moreover, egocentric biases like the better-than-average effect are pervasive existing not only in (selfpromoting) individualistic cultures, but also in (self-deprecating) collectivistic cultures (Sedikides, Gaertner, & Toguchi, 2003).All such phenomena can be viewed as forms of self-enhancement. Although perhaps irrational in the normative sense-half of us being forever doomed to be below average 1 -selfenhancement is nonetheless linked to substantial benefits. These include good psychological health (Taylor, Lerner, Sherman, Sage, & McDowell, 2003), better coping with physical illness (Taylor et al., 2003) and traumatic loss (Bonanno, Rennicke, & Dekel, 2005), greater persistence in the face of adversity (Taylor & Brown, 1988), and good social adjustment (Donnellan, Trzesniewski, Robins, Moffitt, & Caspi, 2005).However, self-enhancement is also linked to several substantial costs. Intrapersonal costs include imprudent risk...

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