7: Positive Illusions
Most people see themselves in a more positive manner than others due, and focus on their attributes and possibilities - the things they are capable of doing rather than the things they actually do. Such "positive illusions" fall into three broad categories:
- Inflated sense of one's qualities and abilities
- Exaggerated sense of empowerment or control
- Unrealistic optimism about the future
For the most part, people rate themselves better than average for their positive qualities and less than average for any negative qualities.
(EN: Performance studies have shown this: surveyed before doing a task in which there is a range of outcomes, most people think they can do better than average - and surveyed afterwards, most believe themselves to have done better than average. If memory serves, the typical proportion is about 80% before and 65% after. Though it is debatable whether this results from overconfidence in oneself or a low opinion of others.)
In general, people tend to expect things to work out for the best, and have confidence in their ability to overcome obstacles - this is a necessary factor in motivation. And in fairness, where there is evidence that negative outcomes are rare, optimism is entirely justified.
A couple expects that they will have a gifted child, and do not consider the possibility of having one with a birth defect. This behavior is reasonable give than only about 3% of babies born in the US have a defect, and in many instances it is minor or correctible. As such, to refrain from having children for fear of a defect would be more dysfunctional and in the nature of self-deception than to expect a healthy child.
The author notes that in individualistic cultures, narcissism is more prevalent. People in collectivistic cultures do not value themselves as individuals, merely members of a society, and tend to be a bit pessimistic about their own capabilities as individuals. However, they may have inflated senses of capabilities where their beliefs about a collective are positive - they believe the group to be powerful, and believe themselves to be imbued with power by virtue of being a member of the group.
Ironically, the incidence of positive illusions tends to be greater among people who are ignorant or unskilled. It is reasoned that those with intelligence and experience can perceive the difficulty of accomplishing a task, including how it may go awry, whereas those lacking intelligence or experience know what they wish to accomplish in a vague sense, and are unaware of the difficulties or impediments they may face. Hence, they believe "I can do this" because they simply don't know what they're in for.
(EN: I recall another theory that suggests a little knowledge is dangerous: a person who is experienced knows the nature of the challenge and is reluctant; one who is entirely inexperienced accepts his lack of ability; but one who knows just a little proceeds boldly and overconfidently. It's my general sense that such half-wits are the cause of a great deal of misfortune to themselves and others.)
The author briefly considered the opposite: those who underestimate their abilities and avoid taking on tasks they could accomplish for fear of failure. Knowledge and experience can rectify this, but there are those who will overgeneralize, assuming that because they failed at something once, they will never succeed - or because one person did something, it is a common practice that can be expected of all. This will be considered in greater detail in chapter 9, about depression.