Protesting Too Much: Self-deception and Self-signaling

Self-deception inhibits laughter

How does self-deception affect the appreciation of humor and laughter? Fifty-nine undergraduates at Rutgers University (33 females, 26 males) were videotaped while watching a stand-up comedian for 28 min. Positive emotional expressions associated with laughter were analyzed for short sections of the act (total: 8 min or 14,400 video frames) and were scored for each subject using the facial acti...

Accidentally on Purpose

Abstract The desire for positive self-view may lead people, sometimes, to self-deception. Previous studies demonstrated that such deception takes the form of selective memory search, rationalizing opposing arguments and distorted self-signaling. This study identifies a new mechanism – “accidentally” eliminating the interpretation that poses a threat to the positive self-view. Specifically, we s...

My “friend on Facebook” and my “Facebook friend”

Donath et al. (2004) discuss social networking display as a whole, and its characteristic functions, affordances and constraints when existing in online environment. Focusing on the connections displayed as an integrated part of individual’s self-descriptive profiles, the authors analyze the psychology of establishing and managing one’s social networks within the framework of signaling theory. ...

Protesting Too Much: Revealing Repetitions in Barry Hannahâ•Žs Interviews

The evolution and psychology of self-deception.

In this article we argue that self-deception evolved to facilitate interpersonal deception by allowing people to avoid the cues to conscious deception that might reveal deceptive intent. Self-deception has two additional advantages: It eliminates the costly cognitive load that is typically associated with deceiving, and it can minimize retribution if the deception is discovered. Beyond its role...