title: Do people have inflated views of their own ability.
abstract: An experiment tested a need-for-self-esteem notion that people inflate self-appraisals of ability, deny criticism, and overrespond to praise. Actors and bystanders rated actors' performances on a nonobjective task after hearing the performance praised or criticized or before hearing it evaluated. No evidence of self-enhancement was found; to the contrary, actors compared to bystanders rated themselves harshly, lowered their ratings after criticism equally, and showed relief after praise. A second experiment compared actor and bystander ratings of actors who expected evaluation of their performances or who expected no evaluation. Results suggested self-derogation by actors as a defense against possible loss of self-esteem.
mesh_terms: D001076:Aptitude; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D004532:Ego; D005246:Feedback; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008399:Mass Behavior; D009790:Occupations; D012057:Reinforcement, Verbal; D012649:Self Concept; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012938:Social Perception