70% людей полагает, что они выглядят "выше среднего". 94% ученых считает, что они "выше среднего".
Возможная причина: обманывая себя, легче обмануть других.
Ложь дает преимущества, но цена лжи может быть высока. Высказываетcя предположение о вреде обмана для иммунной системы.
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Ощущение могущества (власти) мешает распознавать у других людей мимику, связанную со страхом, злостью, печалью и счастьем. Ощущение власти подрывает способность к эмпатии и пониманию происходящего.
Seventy percent of people rank themselves better-looking than average, according to a study cited by Trivers
94 percent of academics (shocking!) think they are better than average, too. Why is this? The answer, Trivers would have us believe, is that the possibility of deceit raises the probability of ever more subtle mechanisms for spotting deceit, which in turn raises the probability of mechanisms for self-deceit. Trick yourself to trick another: what better way to conceal the truth? Self-deception is not a defensive measure meant only to make us feel better; it is a weapon instilled in us by natural selection to help deceive others for our own good.
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Further study showed that the power-primed group was significantly less able to discriminate among human facial expressions associated with fear, anger, sadness, and happiness. It would appear that the ability to apprehend the world correctly, as well as the ability to empathize, is compromised by the feeling of power.
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