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Self-Deception. Arnold Noriega. Wright’s uses of Self-Deception (SD). Unconscious Convince self it is right Due to arms race for deception Make Friends/Enemies Alter self-esteem?. Surbey (2011). SD
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Self-Deception Arnold Noriega
Wright’s uses of Self-Deception (SD) • Unconscious • Convince self it is right Due to arms race for deception • Make Friends/Enemies • Alter self-esteem?
Surbey (2011) • SD • The preferential accessing of overly positive or idealized representations or perceptions of the self, others and the world • Evolved by regulatory mechanisms
Surbey (2011) • What is this evolutionary mechanism? • Social Cognitive Interface (SCI) • Stores social interactions • Access social information with positive twist • “multiple-selves” represented in consciousness
Surbey (2011) • SD related to depression? • Depression • Occurs when significant loss of resources occur • Conserves resources A PET scan can compare brain activity during periods of depression (left) with normal brain activity (right).
Surbey (2011) Advantages of depression: • Reduce risk of social exclusion • Adoption of subordinate behaviors • Social problem solving
Social advantages of SD • Helps maintain and facilitate reciprocal altruism • Promotes optimism • Helps with positive impressions of others • More Cooperative behaviors
Goal of Study • Retest SD in depressed individuals • Test whether SD is underlying factor for attributions or correlates with depressive symptoms • Replicate association between SD and cooperative behaviors and extend them to attributional style
Measurements (Goal 1) • SD • SD Questionnarie (SDQ) • Rated from 1 (Never) to 7 (Always) • Paulhaus Deception Scales (PDS) • SDE measured subconscious tendency to provide inaccurate view of self. • Impression Management Scale (IM) measured positive impressions one attribute to others (control)
Measurements (Goal 2) • Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ) • Hypothetical situations • Measures Locus of control, stability and globality • Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) • Measured severity of depressive symptoms • The Life Orientation Test- Revised (LOT-R) • Measured overall optimism
Measurements (Goal 3) • Used Prisoners Dilemma game to asses intentions to cooperate. • Four situations (scale from 1-complete defection to 6-maximum cooperation)
Findings • SES positively correlated with Self-enhancement • High levels of depression had reduced SD • high levels of negative attributional styles • Low levels of positive attributional styles • High Self-deceivers were significantly more likely to cooperate with others • Severity of depression negatively correlated to level of intention to cooperate
Summary • Data supported all three hypothesizes • Previous findings replicated • SD not correlated with all negative attributional styles*** ( Prediction not supported) • Severity of depression associated with less intentions to cooperate
Discussion • Argue: • Depressed individuals are “blind” to positive information • Evolution of deception led to depression • Depressed individuals are better at identifying deceptive people • CBT should incorporate SD training
Discussion • What accounts for the shift between depressive, normal and “happy” states? • Suggests when certain types of thinking becomes maladaptive mechanism will switch.
Positive side of Depression • Adaptive?!