Common Biases in Self-Perception - Essay Example

? Common biases in self-perception School Common biases in self-perception Assessment of the common patterns of biases in self-perceptionand identification of ways to eradicate them is a subject of prime importance particularly in the research of social psychology where conclusions are drawn based on the data retrieved from people through interviews. The quality of information depends upon the extent to which the interviewee was unbiased in the responses to the questions asked. The perceptions people carry about themselves as well as those that they share with others reflect their individualistic personality traits (Furnham and Henderson, 1983, p. 387). People reactions in situations originate in the very perceptions. In order to change people’s reactions and responses to the challenges of everyday life, it is imperative that biases in self-perception, factors governing the self-perceptions, people’s tendency and willingness to change their self-perceptions for the better, and possible ways to achieve this are explored. A very common misconception about the perceptions is that they are passive and are created as a result of an individual’s recorded information about the subject from the past experience. In reality, perceptions are active and create reality rather than recording it depending upon an individual’s response to the stimuli (Curry, Meyer, and McKinney, 2006, p. 28). Self-perceptions play a big role in the quality of performance of an individual. Yammarino and Atwater (1993) proposed a model according to which accurate self-perception leads to better individual and organizational outcomes whereas inflated or deflated self-perception leads to diminished or mixed results respectively. The behavior and psychology of an individual is different when he/she is working as part of a group from when he/she is working alone. Generally, people tend to have self-serving biases when they are being part of a team. They tend to take credit for the team’s successes while indulge in a blame-game to avoid the responsibility of failure (Taylor and Doria, 1981, p. 210). Factors that help an individual carry accurate self-perceptions include but are not limited to high self-esteem, knowledge, and good critical analysis skills. Reifenberg (2001, p. 627) found that people who make good judgments about their performance have higher internal attributions than others whose judgments are not quite as good. Lack of the skill to respond accurately to particular situations at hand arises from lack of people’s awareness of their lack of ability to differentiate between the accurate and inaccurate response to the very situations. This essentially means that rather than being ignorant of their lack of skill to respond accurately, such people are ignorant about their ignorance. Instead of realizing their deficiencies, these people tend to overestimate their skill of responding in the right way thinking there is no problem all which is how their ignorance works. People with low talent are more optimistic about their performance as compared to the people with high talent. Indeed, the latter are slightly pessimistic about their performance not because they underestimate their own skills, but because they tend to overestimate the skills of others, whereas actually others are not as good at responding in the right way as they are. On the other hand, the optimism of the people with low talent originates in their lack of knowledge, thus causing them more trouble with their metacognitive judgments. Failure of these people to realize their incompetence is because of the fact that they are doubly cursed in that they are not only unable to make the right response but are also unable to differentiate between the right and wrong response. “[I]ncompetence means that people cannot successfully complete the task of metacognition, which, among its many meanings, refers to the ability to evaluate responses as correct or incorrect” (Dunning et al., 2003, p. 85). Others’ opinions about one’s skills and capabilities are more accurate as compared to one’s own idea of one’s skills and capabilities. In a vast majority of cases, people’s self-perceptions are guided by a positive bias. The modest bias of self-enhancement is generally considered to be a healthy adjustment, though it may not always be the case. Considerable research done in the past has demonstrated that people who are actually poorer performers inflate their self-ratings in comparison to others who show greater achievements. Little is known about the factors that control one’s self-perceptions regarding one’s skills and talents. If the sense of distinction between the right and wrong responses to a certain challenge at hand is inculcated in the people, they might in turn develop the skill of producing the right responses. There is a whole range of factors that affect the cognitive processes involved in self-other rating. “[P]ersons who are defined as "sensing types" on the MyersBriggs Type Indicator (MBTI) tend to be databased in their judgments of self and others, whereas "intuitives" rely much less on data” (Yammarino and Atwater, 1997, p. 39). However, since it is not easy to determine the factors that lead an individual to agree or disagree in the self-other rating data, it cannot be said with utmost surety that the sense of identifying the right choice can be inculcated in a certain individual. Yammarino and Atwater (1997) describe several strategies of improving the self-other ratings of individuals, which can be summarized into the cautious use of upward and 360-degree feedback. Concluding, biases in self-perception lead to poor judgments and performances. There are basically two types of inaccurate self-raters; over-estimators and under-estimators, with the former being poor performers and the latter being good performers. Sometimes, judgments that others make about one’s abilities are more accurate as compared to one’s own judgment because of one’s biases of self-perception. A multitude of factors influence people’s judgments including their personality traits, past experiences, and extent of knowledge. In a vast majority of cases, people cannot handle situations correctly because they do not know that the fault lies in their self-perceptions rather than any external factor. Realization of biases in self-perceptions is the first step towards the elimination of their social interaction problems. Provision of the people with training and development to inculcate the sense of accurate judgment in them is of immense importance because knowledge of distinction between right and wrong is the pre-requisite of behaving or performing right. References: Curry, D. G., Meyer, J. E., and McKinney, J. M. (2006, June). Seeing vs perceiving: What you see isn’t always what you get. Professional Safety. pp. 28-34. Dunning, D., Johnson, K., Ehrlinger, J., and Kruger, J. (2003). Why People Fail to Recognize Their Own Incompetence. American Psychological Society. 12(3): 83-87. Furnham, A., and Henderson, M. (1983). The mote in thy brother’s eye, and the beam in thy own: Predicting one’s own and others’ personality test scores. British Journal of Psychology. 74: 381-389. Reifenberg, R. J. (2001). The self-serving bias and the use of objective and subjective methods for measuring success and failure. The Journal of Social Psychology. 126(5): 627-631. Taylor, D. M., and Doria, J. R. (1981). Self-serving and group-serving bias in attribution. The Journal of Social Psychology. 113: 201-211. Yammarino, F. J., and Atwater, L. E. (1993). Understanding self-perception accuracy: Implications for human resource management. Human Resource Management. 32(2 and 3): 231-247. Yammarino, F. J., and Atwater, L. E. (1997). Do Managers See Themselves As Others See Them? Organizational Dynamics. pp. 35-44. Read More