Chapter 7 GENERAL DISCUSSION
7.3 Limitations and Future Directions
First, one limitation of the present research is that the participants are Taiwanese and America adolescents. In an increasingly globalized world, the necessity of studying psychological phenomena among different heritages is apparent if the researches aim to understand human behavior in all its variations for practical value. Future directions could compare self-enhancement among diverse populations.
75
Second, another limitation of the present research is that the findings are correlational. Thus, an interesting avenue for future studies could be to examine the possibility of a direct, causal relationship between self-enhancement, performance outcomes, and some psychological functioning.
Third, the reasons behind the motivational bias are needed to be understood. Therefore, scenario questions could be used to clarify deep reasons of self-enhancement or self-effacement as expressed in different cultures.
Lastly, it is worthwhile to test quantitatively how much self-enhancement can be attributed to motivational bias verses cognitive bias. It would be a noteworthy research option that how much self-enhancement would predict grit or academic performance when controlling IQ or other cognitive variables.
76
References
Alicke MD, Klotz ML, Breitenbecher DL, Yurak TJ and Vredenburg DS (1995) Personal contact, individuation and the better than average effect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 68, 804-825.
Asendorpf, J. B., & Ostendorf, F. (1998). Is self-enhancement healthy? Conceptual, psychometric, and empirical analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 955-966.
Aspinwall, L. G. & Staudinger, U. M. (2003). A Psychology of Human Strengths: Some Central Issues of an Emerging Field. In L. G. Aspinwall & U. M. Staudinger (Eds.), A Psychology of Human Strengths: Fundamental Questions and Future Directions for a Positive Psychology (pp. 9-22). San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers Inc.
Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Baron, Reuben M. and David A. Kenny (1986), “Moderator-Mediator Variables Distinction in Social Psychological Research: Conceptual, Strategic, and Statistical Considerations,”
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51 (6), 1173-82.
Baumeister, R. E, & Tice, D. M. (2006). Self-esteem and responses to success and failure:
Subsequent performance and intrinsic motivation. Journal of Personality, 53, 450-467.
Baumeister, R. F. (1989). The optimal margin of illusion. Journal of Social & Clinical Psychology, 8, 176-189.
Baumeister, R. F., Bratslavsky, E., Muraven, M., & Tice, D. M. (1998). Ego depletion: Is the active self a limited resource? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1252-1265.
77
Borkenau, P., Zaltauskas, K., & Leising, D. (2009). More may be better, but there may be too much: Optimal trait level and self-enhancement bias. Journal of Personality, 77, 825-858.
Brown, J. D., & Dutton, K. A. (1995). Truth and consequences: The costs and benefits of accurate self-knowledge. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21, 1288-1296.
Brown, J.D. & Kobayashi, C. (2002). Self-enhancement in Japan and America. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 5, 145-168.
Chang, E. C. & Asakawa, K. (2003). Cultural variation on optimistic and pessimistic bias for self versus a sibling: Is there evidence for self-enhancement in the West and for self-criticism in the East when the referent group is specified? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 569-81.
Chang, E. C. (Ed.). (2008). Self-criticism and self-enhancement: Theory, research, and clinical
implications, Washington, DC, US: American Psychological Association, xvi, 291 pp.
Chang, E. C., Asakawa, K., & Sanna, L. J. (2001). Cultural variations in optimistic and pessimistic bias: Do Easterners really expect the worst and Westerners really expect the best when predicting future life events? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 476-91.
Chang, E.C., Chang, R., Sanna, L.J., & Kade, A.M. (2008). Self-criticism and selfenhancement:
From complexities of the present to a complex future (pp. 247-265). In E.C. Chang (Ed.), Self-criticism and self-enhancement: Theory, research and clinical implications.
Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.
Chinese Culture Connection. (1987). Chinese values and the search for culture-free dimensions of culture. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 18, 143-164.
78
Chiou, Jyh-shen (2001), “Horizontal and Vertical Individualism and Collectivism Among College Students in the United States, Taiwan, and Argentina,” Journal of Social Psychology, 141(5), 667-678.
Cohen, Jacob (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavior sciences (2nd ed.). Routledge ISBN 978-0-8058-0283-2
College Board. (1976-1977). Student descriptive questionnaire. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.
Colvin, C. R., & Block, J. (1994a). Do positive illusions foster mental health? An examination of the Taylor and Brown formulation. Psychological Bulletin, 116, 3-20.
Colvin, C. R., & Block, J. (1994b). Positive illusions and well-being revisited: Separating fiction from fact. Psychological Bulletin, 116, 28.
Colvin, C. R., & Griffo, R. (2008). On the psychological costs of self-enhancement. In E. Chang (Ed.), Self-criticism and self-enhancement: Theory, research, and clinical implications (pp.
123-140). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Colvin, C. R., Block, J., & Funder, D. C. (1995). Overly positive self-evaluations and personality:
Negative implications for mental health. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 1152-1162.
Corno, L., Cronbach, L.J., Kupermintz, H., Lohman, D., Mandinach, E. B., Porteus, A. W. et al.
(2002). Remaking the concept of aptitude: Extending the legacy of R. E. Snow. Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Duckworth, A. L., & Quinn, P. D. (2009). Development and validation of the Short Grit Scale (GRIT–S). Journal of Personality Assessment, 91(2), 166-174. doi:
10.1080/00223890802634290
79
Duckworth, A. L., Peterson, C., Matthews, M. D., & Kelly, D. R. (2007). Grit: Perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 1087–1101.
Elliott, E. S., & Dweck, C. S. (1988). Goals: An approach to motivation and achievement.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 5–12.
Felson, R. B. (1984). The effect of self-appraisals of ability on academic performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47, 944-952.
Försterling, F., & Morgenstern, M. (2002). Accuracy of self-assessment and task performance:
Does it pay to know the truth? Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 576–585.
doi:10.1037/0022-0663.94.3.576
Funder, D.C. (1991). Global traits: A neo-Allportian approach to personality. Psychological Science, 2, 31-39.
Giladi, E. E., & Klar, Y. (2002). When standards are wide of the mark: Nonselective superiority and bias in comparative judgments of objects and concepts. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 131, 538-551.
Gramzow, R. H., Willard, G., & Mendes, W. B. (2008). Big tales and cool heads: Academic exaggeration is related to cardiac vagal reactivity. Emotion, 8, 138–144.
doi:10.1037/1528-3542.8.1.138
Greham, F. M., Lane, K., L., ManMillan, D. L., Bocian, K. M., & Ward,S. L. (2000). Effects of positive and negative illusory biases: Comparison across social and academic self-concept domains. Journal of School Psychology, 38, 151–175. doi:10.1016/S0022-4405(99)00042-4 Hamamura, T., & Heine, S. J. (2008). The role of self-criticism in self-improvement and face maintenance among Japanese. In Chang, E. C. (Ed.). (2008). Self-criticism and
80
self-enhancement: Theory, research, and clinical implications (pp. 105-122), Washington, DC, US: American Psychological Association.
Heine, S. J. & Hamamura, T. (2007). In search of East Asian Self-Enhancement. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 11, 4-27.
Heine, S. J., Lehman, D. R., Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (1999). Is there a universal need for positive self-regard? Psychological Review, 106, 766-794.
Hiebert, J., Gallimore, R., Garnier, H., Givvin, K. B., Hollingsworth, H., Jacobs, J., Chui, A.
M.-Y., Wearne, D., Smith, M., Kersting, N., Manaster, A., Tseng, E., Etterbeek, W., Manaster, C., Gonzales, P., & Stigler, J. W. (2003). Understanding and improving mathematics teaching: Highlights from the TIMSS 1999 Video Study. Phi Delta Kappan, 84 (10), 768-775.
Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture's consequences, comparing values, behaviors, iInstitutions, and organizations across nations. Thousand Oaks CA: Sage Publications.
Hoyle, R. H., Kernis, M. H., Leary, M. R., & Baldwin, M. W. (1999). Selfhood: Identity, esteem, regulation. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Isen, A. M., & Daubman, K. A. (1984). The influence of affect on categorization. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47, 1206-1217.
Isen, A. M., & Means, B. (1983). The influence of positive affect on decision-making strategy.
Social Cognition, 2, 18-31.
John, O. P., & Robins, R. W. (1994). Accuracy and bias in self-perception: Individual differences in self-enhancement and the role of narcissism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 206-219.
81
Kim, Y.-H., & Chiu, C.-Y. (2010a). Know Thyself Misperceptions of Actual Performance Undermine Achievement Motivation, Future Performance, and Subjective Well-Being.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99(3), 395-409. doi: 10.1037/a0020555
Kim, Y.-H., & Chiu, C.-y. (2010b). Unaware or unmotivated? Accuracy motivation in self-assessment of ability. Unpublished manuscript, University of Illinois.
Kim, Y.-H., & Chiu, C.-Y. (2011a). Emotional costs of inaccurate self-assessments: Both self-effacement and self-enhancement can lead to dejection. Emotion, 11(5), 1096.
Kim, Y-H. (2011b). Culture and self-enhancement. In A. K-y. Leung, C-y. Chiu, & Y. Hong (Eds.), Cultural processes: A social psychological perspective(pp.139-153). New York:
Klar, Y., & Giladi, E. E. (1997). No one in my group can be below the group’s average: A robust positivity bias in favor of anonymous peers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 885-901.
Klar, Y., & Giladi, E. E. (1999). Are most people happier than their peers, or are they just happy?
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25 586-595.
Klein, W. M. P., & Cerully, J. L. (2007). Health-related risk perception and decision-making:
Lessons from the study of motives in social psychology. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 1, 334–358. doi:10.1111/j.1751-9004.2007.00023.x
Klein, W. M. P., & Cooper, K. (2008). On the physical health costs of self-enhancement. In E.
Chang (Ed.), Self-criticism and self-enhancement: Theory, research, and clinical implications (pp. 141–158). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
doi:10.1037/11624-009
Kruger, J., & Dunning, D. (1999). Unskilled and unaware of it: How difficulties in recognizing one’s own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 1121-34.
82
Kurman, J. & Sriram, N. (2002). Interrelationships among vertical and horizontal collectivism, modesty, and self-enhancement. Journal of Cross-Cultural Pscyhology, 33, 71-86.
Kurman, J. (2001). Self-enhancement: Is it restricted to individualistic cultures? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 1705-1716.
Kurman, J. (2003). Why is self-enhancement low in certain collectivist cultures? An investigation of two competing explanations. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 34, 496-510.
Kurt, A., & Paulhus, D. L. (2008). Moderators of the adaptiveness of self-enhancement:
Operationalization, motivational domain, adjustment facet, and evaluator. Journal of Research in Personality, 42, 839–853. doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2007.11.005
Kwan, V. S. Y., John, O. P., Kenny, D. A., Bond, M. H. & St Robins, R. W. (2004).
Reconceptualizing individual differences in self enhancement bias: An interpersonal approach. Psychological Review, 111, 94-11
Kwan, V., John, O., Robin, R., & Kuang, L. (2008). Conceptualizing and assessing self-enhancement bias: A componential approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94, 1062-1077.
Markus, H. R. & Kitayama, S. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review, 98, 224-53.
McNulty, J. K. & Karney, B. R. (2004). Positive expectations in the early years of marriage:
Should couples expect the best or brace for the worst. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 729-743.
McNulty, J. K., O’Mara, E. M., & Karney, B, R. (2008). Benevolent cognitions are a strategy of relationship maintenance: “Don’t sweat the small stuff”….But it is not all small stuff.
83
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94, 631-646.
Miller, P. J., Wang, S., Sandel, T., & Cho, G. E. (2002). Self-esteem as folk theory: A
comparison of European American and Taiwanese mothers’ beliefs. Parenting: Science and Practice, 2, 209–239. doi:10.1207/S15327922PAR0203_02
Muraven, M., Tice, D. M., & Banmeister, R. E (1998). Self-control as limited resource:
Regulatory depletion patterns. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 774-789.
Paulhus, D. L. & John, O. P. (1998). Egoistic and moralistic biases in self-perception. Journal of Personality, 66, 1025-1060.
Peterson, C. & Seligman, mep (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification. New York: Oxford University Press and Washington, DC: American
Psychological Association.
Peterson, C. (2006). A primer in positive psychology. New York: Oxford University Press.
Preacher, K. J., & Hayes, A. F. (2004). SPSS and SAS procedures for estimating indirect effects in simple mediation models. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 36, 717-731.
Robins, R. W., & Beer, J. S. (2001). Positive illusions about the self: Short-term benefits and long-term costs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 340-352.
Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton,NJ: Princeton University Press.
Schunk, D. H. (1984). Self-efficacy perspective on achievement behavior. Educational Psychologist, 19, 48-58.
Sedikides, C., & Strube, M. J. (1997). Self-evaluation: To thine own self be good, to thine own
84
self be sure, to thine own self be true, and to thine own self be better. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.),
Advances in experimental social psychology (pp. 209–269). New York, NY: Academic Press.
Sedikides, C., Gaertner, L., & Toguchi, Y. (2003). Pancultural self-enhancement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 60-79.
Seligman, M. E. P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psygology: An introduction.
American Psychologist, 55, 5-14.
Seligman, M. E., & Schulman, P. (1986). Explanatory style as a predictor of productivity and quitting among life insurance sales agents. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 832–838.
Sheldon, K. M., & King, L. (2001). Why positive psychology is necessary. American Psychologist, 56, 216-217.
Snow, R. E. (1994) Abilities in academic tasks. In R.J.Sternberg & R. K. Wagner (Eds.), Mind in context: Interactionist perspectives on human intelligence (pp. 3-37). Cambridge, MA:
Cambridge University Press.
Snyder, C. R., & Lopez, S. J. (2007). Positive psychology: The scientific and practical explorations of human strengths. Thousand Oaks, CA, US: Sage Publications
Snyder, C. R., & Smith, T. W. (1982). Symptoms as self-handicapping strategies: The virtues of old wine in a new bottle. In G. Weary & H. L. Mirels (Eds.), Integration of clinical and social psychology (pp. 104–127). NewYork, NY: Oxford University Press.
Takata, T. (2003). Self-enhancement and self-criticism in Japanese culture: An experimental analysis. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 34, 542-51.
85
Taylor, S. E., & Armor, D. A. (1996). Positive illusions and coping with adversity. Journal of Personality, 64, 873-898.
Taylor, S. E., & Brown, J. D. (1988). Illusion and well-being: A social psychological perspective on mental health. Psychological Bulletin, 103, 193-210.
Taylor, S. E., Lemer, J. S., Sherman, D. K., Sage, R. M., & McDowell, N. K. (2003a). Are self-enhancing cognitions associated with healthy or unhealthy biological profiles. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 605–615. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.85.4.605
Taylor, S. E., Lerner, J. S., Sherman, D. K., Sage, R. M., & McDowell, N. K. (2003b). Portrait of the self-enhancer: Well-adjusted and well liked or maladjusted and friendless. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 165–176. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.84.1.165Hiebert,
J., Gallimore, R., Garnier, H., Givvin, K.B., Hollingsworth, H., Jacobs, J., Chiu, A.M.-Y., Wearne, D., Smith, M., Kersting, N., Manaster, A., Tseng, E., Etterbeek, W., Manaster, C., Gonzales, P., and Stigler, J. (2003). Teaching Mathematics in Seven Countries: Results From the TIMSS 1999 Video Study. U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC:
National Center for Education Statistics.
Taylor, S.E., Collins, R.L., Skokan, L.A., & Aspinwall, L.G. (1989). Maintaining positive illusions in the face of negative information: Getting the facts without letting them get to you. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 8, 114-129.
Yik, M.S.M., Bond, M., & Paulhus, D.L. (1998). Do Chinese self-enhance or self-efface?: It's a matter of domain. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 24, 399-406.
Zimmerman, B. J., & Bandura, A. (1994). Impact of self-regulatory influences on writing course attainment. American Educational Research Journal, 31, 845–862.
86