Self-Enhancement and Well-Being

Abstract

The key purpose of this series of studies was to investigate the relationship between self-enhancing tendencies, whereby individuals see themselves more positively overall than they see others (e.g., Brown, 1986), and levels of well-being. Self-enhancement is termed 'positive illusion' because it is comprised of inaccurate perceptions. Previously, differences in positive illusion in three levels of direct measures of well-being had not been investigated. A positive bias in responses was also investigated. The results showed that on independently rated items, University student participants predicted positive rather than negative events for themselves and others, allocated responsibility to themselves and others for positive rather than negative events, and consistently rated their own and others' traits positively rather than negatively. There were also effects of positive illusion. Participants estimated that more positive and fewer negative events would happen in their lives than in the lives of others, and consistently rated their own traits more positively and less negatively than they rated others' traits. However, no effects of positive illusion were observed in participants' allocations of responsibility. Self-actualization was adopted as the first model of well-being. It was predicted that positive illusion would be greatest at moderate levels, attenuating at high levels, according to the theory that high well-being groups have relatively accurate perceptions (e.g., Maslow, 1968,1987). The results showed that individuals who were moderately self-actualizing in their ability to live in the present showed more positive illusion in their trait ratings than individuals who had the same ability to a greater or lesser extent. This offered some support for the key prediction that positive illusion would attenuate at higher well-being, and also supported theories that positive illusion rises from dysphoric to normal groups (e.g, Ackermann & DeRubeis, 1991). Further investigations showed that positive illusion again rose from low to moderate levels of several well-being measures. However, there were no significant differences in positive illusion between moderate and high levels on the well-being measures except on a measure of optimism that contained only positive items. All significant rises in positive illusion were due to increasingly positive ratings of the self overall rather than any variation in ratings of others. The results created challenges for the theory that well-being is associated with accurate perceptions because positive illusion did not generally decrease from moderate to high well-being. However, the findings also created challenges for the theory that well-being is associated with inaccurate perceptions (Taylor & Brown, 1988) because positive illusion did not generally rise significantly from moderate to high well-being levels. Several other effects were tested for. Trait ratings of the self and others generally became more positive with increased well-being. No relationship was observed between problem-focused coping and positive illusion scores, despite theories that positive illusions foster successful coping strategies (e.g., Brown, 1993). Tests for gender differences on several variables and associations between happiness, optimism, and coping largely supported previous research.