The Optimal Margin of Illusion

Roy Frederick Baumeister

357 citations0/0 files storedJournal of Social and Clinical Psychology

No readable copy stored yet — this record is metadata only.

No open-access location is known for this record yet.

Literature note Cite in a project Citation map

Personality Traits and Psychology Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics Social and Intergroup Psychology

Abstract

This article proposes that optimal psychological functioning is associated with a slight to moderate degree of distortion in one's perception of self and world. Past evidence suggests that substantial distortions provide a dangerous basis for action, yet recent research has shown that highly accurate perceptions are associated with depression and other maladaptive patterns. By seeing things as only slightly better than they really are, the individual may enjoy the affective benefits of illusions while avoiding the pragmatic, behavioral risks of acting on false assumptions. Departures from this optimal margin of illusion are associated with risks and difficulties, and power hierarchies may be an important arena for studying these problems.

Paper brief

Loading…

Cite this work

Citation unavailable for this work.

BibTeX RIS CSL-JSON

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Citations in this library

Citation map →

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 357 citations exist upstream.

References

1979Judgment of contingency in depressed and nondepressed students: Sadder but wiser?1988Self-defeating behavior patterns among normal individuals: Review and analysis of common self-destructive tendencies.

Cited by

1992Interpersonal Processes Involving Impression Regulation and Management 2010Do People Embrace Praise Even When They Feel Unworthy? A Review of Critical Tests of Self-Enhancement Versus Self-Verification 2003Portrait of the self-enhancer: Well adjusted and well liked or maladjusted and friendless?2018Self-Enhancement and Psychological Adjustment: A Meta-Analytic Review 2013Overcoming the Barriers to Self-Knowledge 1996Opening Pandora's box: studying the accuracy of managers' perceptions 2000Perceived superiority in close relationships: Why it exists and persists.2015Refining the vulnerability model of low self-esteem and depression: Disentangling the effects of genuine self-esteem and narcissism.

Explore the map →

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.

Imported from OpenAlex (CC0) — nothing here is generated.