Seeing the self through rose-colored glasses: A cross-cultural study of positive illusions using a behavioral approach

PLoS One. 2022 Oct 5;17(10):e0274535. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0274535. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

Previous studies on self-enhancement bias used self-report measures to investigate individual and cultural differences in well-being. In the current research, we took a behavioral approach to analyze positive and negative perception tendencies between European Canadians, Asian Canadians and Koreans. In Study 1 and 2, participants were asked to bet on their expectation of success on a given task and then perform the task. The betting behaviors and actual performance were used to quantify positive and negative perception tendencies. In Study 1, we did not find cultural differences in positive and negative illusions. Positive self-perceptions were also not associated with higher self-reported well-being. In Study 2, we employed the same research design as Study 1, and we included a measure of perceived desirability to examine whether perceived desirability of the performance tasks are related to the two illusions indices. The results from Study 2 replicated the findings from Study 1, and perceived desirability did not influence the results. Our findings suggest that North Americans do not always exhibit more positive self-perceptions than Asians, suggesting that North Americans do not always view the self through rose-colored lenses.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Asian People
  • Canada
  • Cross-Cultural Comparison*
  • Humans
  • Illusions*
  • Self Concept
  • Self Report
  • Service Animals

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Coun-cil Postdoctoral Fellowship Grant awarded to the first author, H.K. The first study was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Institutional Grant awarded to the last author, U.S. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.