other · Open Science Framework · 2025
The “ Better-Than-Average ” Illusion: How Social Comparison Feedback Influences Self-Deception
Ying, Yang
Cited by 0Open access
Abstract
Self-deception is a positive self-perception bias profoundly influenced by social context. Two experiments respectively investigated self-deception within two distinct social comparison contexts: one involving comparison with “average others” (aggregate performance) and the other with “specific others” (a single individual). In Experiment 1, participants were falsely informed that their ability scores were higher (downward comparison) or lower (upward comparison) than the “average others” score. Self-deception was then assessed by asking them to predict the number of questions they would answer correctly on a subsequent test of the same type, with more inflated predictions indicating greater self-deception. Results showed that prediction scores were highest following downward comparison. Furthermore, after controlling for actual ability, the discrepancy between predicted and actual scores was significantly greater in the downward and no-comparison groups than in the upward and parallel comparison groups. In Experiment 2, participants were falsely informed that their performance-based monetary rewards were higher or lower than those of a “specific other”. Prediction scores following downward and parallel comparisons were significantly higher than after upward comparisons. However, on the prediction–actual discrepancy index,, the discrepancy was greatest after downward comparison, intermediate after parallel comparison, and smallest after upward comparison. For the number of correct predictions, downward comparison also elicited the highest scores, followed by parallel and then upward comparison. In summary, downward comparison induces the highest self-deception, regardless of comparison context. Moreover, the effects were more pronounced in comparisons with a “specific other” than with “average others,” suggesting that concrete, vivid social information more potently activates self-enhancement motivation.
Cite this paper
Ying, Y. (2025). The “ Better-Than-Average ” Illusion: How Social Comparison Feedback Influences Self-Deception. Open Science Framework. https://doi.org/10.17605/osf.io/39g6v
Ying, Yang. “The “ Better-Than-Average ” Illusion: How Social Comparison Feedback Influences Self-Deception.” Open Science Framework, 2025, https://doi.org/10.17605/osf.io/39g6v.
Ying, Yang. 2025. “The “ Better-Than-Average ” Illusion: How Social Comparison Feedback Influences Self-Deception.” Open Science Framework. https://doi.org/10.17605/osf.io/39g6v.
Ying, Y. (2025) ‘The “ Better-Than-Average ” Illusion: How Social Comparison Feedback Influences Self-Deception’, Open Science Framework. Available at: https://doi.org/10.17605/osf.io/39g6v.
@misc{ying2025better,
title = {{The “ Better-Than-Average ” Illusion: How Social Comparison Feedback Influences Self-Deception}},
author = {Ying, Yang},
journal = {Open Science Framework},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.17605/osf.io/39g6v}
}Made from the index record. Check names, capitalisation and page numbers against the paper. Need another style? AI for Research has over 10,000.