Positive Intelligence Illusions: On the Relation Between Intellectual Self‐Enhancement and Psychological Adjustment

Abstract

The relation between self-enhancement and psychological adjustment has been debated for over 2 decades. This controversy is partly due to the variety of approaches implicated in the assessment of mainly self-enhancement but also psychological adjustment. We adopted a face-valid approach by statistically removing actual intellectual ability variance from self-rated intellectual ability variance. Study 1 (N = 2,048), a concurrent Internet investigation, provided initial insight into the relation between intellectual self-enhancement and psychological adjustment. Study 2 (N = 238), a longitudinal round-robin investigation, allowed a closer examination of the dynamic processes underlying this relation. Self-enhancement was positively linked to multiple indicators of intrapersonal and interpersonal adjustment, and predicted rank-order increases in adjustment over time. The links between intellectual self-enhancement and intrapersonal adjustment were mediated by self-esteem. Finally, the interpersonal costs and benefits of self-enhancement systematically varied depending on methodology.

Christian self-enhancement.

“…Indeed self-enhancement and temptation entail distinct psychological correlates. Self-enhancement is linked to better physical health (Segerstrom & Roach, 2008;Taylor, Kemeny, Reed, Bower, & Gruenewald, 2000;Taylor, Lerner, Sherman, Sage, & CHRISTIAN SELF-ENHANCEMENT 41 McDowell, 2003a) and better psychological health (Dufner et al, 2012;Marshall & Brown, 2008;Sedikides, Rudich, Gregg, Kumashiro, & Rusbult, 2004), whereas giving in to temptations is linked to worse physical and psychological health (materialism- Kasser & Ryan, 1993;drug use-Adams, Blanken, Ferguson, & Kopstein, 1990;drug use-Ybarra & Mitchell, 2005).…”

An investigation of the adaptive functions of overconfidence

“…In schoolchildren, overconfidence in academic achievement (compared to grades) was associated with higher self-esteem and wellbeing across Israeli and Singaporean samples (Kurman & Eshel, 1998;Kurman & Sriram, 1997), though not with teacher-rated adjustment. Overconfidence in vocabulary skills has been associated with higher self-esteem, life satisfaction, positive affect, and lower levels of depression (Dufner et al, 2012). Participants who score higher on the OCQ have higher levels of self-esteem (Paulhus et al, 2003).…”

“…The strongest effects were found when nominating someone they would ask for help or would like to work with, though there were also some positive effects when nominating individuals as friends. In a different study, (Dufner et al, 2012) found that individuals who were overconfident in their vocabulary were rated as more likable, though not more agreeable, by their peers. Thus, cross-sectional studies seem to indicate that overconfidence conveys increased competence, at least in the relevant domain, and that it also has status-enhancing effects.…”

“…Nevertheless, social outcomes were not tested in the main study described in Chapter 1 that reported negative findings (Robins & Beer, 2001), making it unclear whether this difference represents differential effects of overconfidence across domains, or a difference in study design. Robins and Beer (2001) followed students across their entire undergraduate careers, while no other study has followed participants outside the bounds of a single (academic) year (Blanton et al, 1999;Dufner et al, 2012Dufner et al, , 2015Wright, 2000). Do the negative outcomes reported by Robins and Beer (2001) reflect worsening outcomes over a longer time frame, sample or measurement differences, or are they simply an anomaly?…”

“…This most often takes the form of an objective measure of a trait or ability, such as an intelligence test, against which selfreport can be compared (Dufner et al, 2012). Other measures have used a 'ground-truth' criterion that can be independently verified, such as an actual photograph of an individual (Epley & Whitchurch, 2008).…”