Self-Perception
Psychological Biases
đź”’ Self-Perception
12 biases in this category
Biases that distort how we see ourselves, our abilities, and our role in events.
Illusory Superiority
The tendency to overestimate one's own qualities and abilities relative to others—the "above-average effect.
Overconfidence Effect
The tendency to have excessive confidence in one's own answers, judgments, and abilities—confidence exceeds accuracy.
Self-Enhancement Bias
The broad tendency to perceive oneself more favorably than is warranted by objective measures—encompassing illusory superiority, self-serving bias, and unrealistic optimism.
Spotlight Effect (Self)
The tendency to overestimate how much others notice about us—specifically, the application of the spotlight effect to self-perception.
Introspection Illusion
The false belief that we have direct insight into the origins of our mental states, when in fact introspection provides very limited access to the causes of our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
Self-Perception Theory
The theory that we infer our own attitudes and emotions by observing our own behavior and its circumstances—we don't always know how we feel until we see how we act.
Social Comparison Bias
The tendency to have feelings of dislike and competitiveness with someone seen as physically or mentally better than oneself, protecting self-evaluation through derogation of comparison threats.
Barnum Effect
The tendency to accept vague, general personality descriptions as uniquely applicable to oneself—named after P.
Forer Effect
Also known as the Barnum Effect—the tendency to give high accuracy ratings to descriptions of one's personality that are supposedly tailored specifically for them but are in fact vague and general enough to apply to a wide range of people.
False Uniqueness Effect
The tendency to underestimate the prevalence of our positive qualities and abilities, believing we are more unique in our strengths than we actually are—the opposite of false consensus for valued traits.
Impostor Syndrome
A psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a "fraud"—the opposite of illusory superiority.
Self-Serving Attribution
The tendency to attribute positive events and successes to one's own character, but attribute negative events and failures to external factors beyond one's control.