(Not so) positive illusions

2009/12/01 by Justin Kruger, Steven S. Chan, Neal J. Roese · 1 citation
Neuroscience · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment #Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior #Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation #Illusion #Premise #Optical illusion #Psychology #Cognitive psychology #Epistemology #Social psychology #Philosophy

paper · doi:10.1017/s0140525x09991270

openalex publication_date 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/11

Abstract

Abstract We question a central premise upon which the target article is based. Namely, we point out that the evidence for “positive illusions” is in fact quite mixed. As such, the question of whether positive illusions are adaptive from an evolutionary standpoint may be premature in light of the fact that their very existence may be an illusion.

Citations

• The weirdest people in the world?
• A Theory of Social Comparison Processes
• Illusion and well-being: A social psychological perspective on mental health.
• The trouble with overconfidence.
• Not so above average after all: When people believe they are worse than average and its implications for theories of bias in social comparison
• Lake Wobegon be gone! The "below-average effect" and the egocentric nature of comparative ability judgments.

Cited by

• Positive illusions [wikipedia]