Research article summary (published 29 Nov 2000):

Feeling "holier than thou": are self-serving assessments produced by errors in self- or social prediction?

Full Abstract

People typically believe they are more likely to engage in selfless, kind, and generous behaviors than their peers, a result that is both logically and statistically suspect. However, this oft-documented tendency presents an important ambiguity. Do people feel "holier than thou" because they harbor overly cynical views of their peers (but accurate impressions of themselves) or overly charitable views of themselves (and accurate impressions of their peers)? Four studies suggested it was the latter. Participants consistently overestimated the likelihood that they would act in generous or selfless ways, whereas their predictions of others were considerably more accurate. Two final studies suggest this divergence in accuracy arises, in part, because people are unwilling to consult population base rates when predicting their own behavior but use this diagnostic information more readily when predicting others'.

Author information

Author/s: Epley, N (N); Dunning, D (D);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853-7601, USA. ne12(-atsign-)cornell.edu

Grants: R01 56072 (Agency:PHS HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

Journal: Journal of personality and social psychology (J Pers Soc Psychol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2000-Dec; vol 79 (issue 6) : pp 861-75

Dates: Created 2001/01/02; Completed 2001/03/15; Revised 2009/11/11;

PMID: 11138757, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/11/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adolescent Adult Altruism Female Humans Internal-External Control

Male Motivation Peer Group Self Assessment (Psychology) Social Perception Students - psychology

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