Everybody loves me: self-evaluations and metaperceptions of dating popularity.

Full Abstract

A limitation of most comparative bias studies is that they lack an objective criterion against which to assess the accuracy of self-evaluations. Furthermore, comparisons are usually made with large populations or "average peers" rather than specific others. To assess the robustness of self-enhancement when strong reality constraints are imposed, we created a video dating paradigm in which participants made profiles that they believed would be evaluated by opposite-sex peers. Blocks of seven profiles were created, and participants ranked their own profiles and estimated how others who viewed their videos would rank them (metaperceptions). Each actor was yoked to one observer who saw and ranked the same block of profiles. Despite the presence of an external reality check, participants in all three studies evinced strong self-enhancement tendencies as measured in self-rankings and metaperception judgments that exceeded those provided by observers.

Author information

Author/s: Preuss, Gregory S (GS); Alicke, Mark D (MD);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA. gregpreuss(-atsign-)gmail.com

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article

Journal: Personality and social psychology bulletin (Pers Soc Psychol Bull), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Jul; vol 35 (issue 7) : pp 937-50

Dates: Created 2009/06/02; Completed 2009/07/31;

PMID: 19487485, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 8/20/2009, IMS Date: )

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

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