How self-deception allows people to lie
Self-deception can fool us into believing our own lies – and even make us more convincing.
By David Robson
30th May 2022
The media today is full of people who have lived a lie.
There’s Elizabeth Holmes, the biotech entrepreneur, who in 2015 was declared the youngest and richest self-made female billionaire. She now faces 20 years in prison for fraud. Then there’s Anna Sorokin – aka Anna Delvey, who pretended to be a German heiress, and subsequently fleeced New York’s high society of hundreds of thousands of dollars. And Shimon Hayut, aka Simon Leviev – the so-called Tinder Swindler.
What marks all of these people is not just the lies they told others – but the lies they must have told themselves. They each believed their actions were somehow justifiable, and – against all odds – believed they would never be found out. Time and again, they personally seemed to deny reality – and dragged others into their scams.
You might hope that this kind of behaviour is a relatively rare phenomenon, restricted to a few extreme situations. But self-deception is incredibly common, and may have evolved to bring some personal benefits. We lie to ourselves to protect our self-images, which allows us to act immorally while maintaining a clear conscience. According to the very latest research, self-deception may have even evolved to help us to persuade others; if we start believing our own lies, it’s much easier to get other people to believe them, too.
This research might explain questionable behaviour in many areas of life – far beyond the headline-grabbing scams in recent years. By understanding the different factors contributing to self-deception, we can try to spot when it might be swaying our own decisions, and prevent these delusions from leading us astray.
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More at the link.
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220525-how-self-deception-allows-people-to-lie
❤ pants
= new reply since forum marked as read
I believe that's a big part of their act. He/they have practiced self-deception so many times for so many years and gotten away with it that they have come to believe whatever self-serving BS they dream up is indeed the truth/reality. Rigged election? True! Nazis running Ukraine? True!
Yup, that's us. Some a whole lot more, and less, than others, but!
The story about the IQ test hit home fast. Oh, yeah! I have a lousy memory these days, but if I only need a little outside help to remember something I feel I "know" -- like a Jeopardy contestant supplying the answer (!), or if an answer won't "come" but I'm sure it's in there somewhere, or maybe I just feel it's something I once knew, I spot myself points.
Degree of vulnerability to self deception in "moral sincerity." Ouch.
How about the implicit hazards for self deceit on social media, like DU, where we discuss/argue positions we care about (anonymously!), as described in "persuading ourselves, persuading others?" The theory is evolution equipped us with ability for self-deception that creates unfounded overconfidence to help us influence others better. And it tests out.
Then there's what tends to happen with "picking sides" -- actual personal beliefs change to fit whatever side a person finds himself aligned with, even just temporarily. Also demonstrated in formal research, and seen in factional positions here. And "delusions of grandeur."
Oh, boy. I just googled "self deception" and "social media." We've been and are being studied.
Thanks for the article, pants.
