Title
Universal biases in self-perception : better and more human than average
Document Type
Journal article
Source Publication
British Journal of Social Psychology
Publication Date
9-1-2010
Volume
49
Issue
3
First Page
627
Last Page
636
Publisher
John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Abstract
There is a well-established tendency for people to see themselves as better than average (self-enhancement), although the universality of this phenomenon is contested. Much less well-known is the tendency for people to see themselves as more human than average (self-humanizing). We examined these biases in six diverse nations: Australia, Germany, Israel, Japan, Singapore, and the USA. Both biases were found in all nations. The self-humanizing effect was obtained independent of self-enhancement, and was stronger than self-enhancement in two nations (Germany and Japan). Self-humanizing was not specific to Western or English-speaking cultures and its magnitude was less cross-culturally variable than self-enhancement. Implications of these findings for research on the self and its biases are discussed.
DOI
10.1348/014466610X487779
Print ISSN
01446665
E-ISSN
20448309
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 2010 The British Psychological Society
Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.
Full-text Version
Publisher’s Version
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Loughnan, S., Leidner, B., Doron, G., Haslam, N., Kashima, Y., Tong, J., & Yeung, V. W. L. (2010). Universal biases in self-perception: Better and more human than average. British Journal of Social Psychology, 49(3), 627-636. doi: 10.1348/014466610X487779
