Investigating the Relation between Moral Self-Enhancement and Self-Deception: A Cross-Cultural Study of U.S. and Chinese College Students.

详细信息   

• 作者：Liu ; Ying.
• 学历：Doctor
• 年：2012
• 导师：Keefer,Matthew,eadvisorDing,Codyecommittee memberDorner,Lisaecommittee memberPolman,Josephecommittee member
• 毕业院校：University of Missouri
• Department：College of Education.
• ISBN：9781267818515
• CBH：3547247
• Country：USA
• 语种：English
• FileSize：1562345
• Pages：93

文摘

Testing an evolutionary framework,this study examined moral self-enhancement in relation to self-deception and self-construal in a cross-cultural context. The participants included 127 U.S. and 107 Chinese college students. The results demonstrated that moral self-enhancement is not a characteristic unique to individualistic ideology but rather a universal motivation. Regardless of their cultural groups and self-construal,participants tended to morally self-enhance,rating their own character and sense of responsibility significantly higher than those of other people. In addition,U.S. participants were more likely to morally self-enhance compared to their Chinese counterparts. At the individual level,strong independents demonstrated greater moral self-enhancement than did their strong interdependent peers among the U.S. participants,whereas greater moral self-enhancement was observed in strong interdependents but not strong independent in the Chinese sample. As hypothesized,self-deception as measured by self-deceptive enhancement (SDE) but not impression management (IM) stood out as a significant predictor of moral self-enhancement,supporting the evolutionary understanding that moral self-enhancement is an unconscious process intimately related to self-deception. Among Chinese participants,the association between moral self-enhancement and self-deception was found to be mediated through an inflated rating of others,which indicated a potential other-enhancement effect. On the one hand,results of this study regarding cultural differences in the demonstration of moral self-enhancement were in line with extant self-enhancement literature. On the other hand,the significant relationship between moral self-enhancement and self-deception as revealed in the study provided evidence against the claim that culture is the primary explanation for self-enhancement. Moral self-enhancement as a psychological adaptation to cooperation in the social environment has an evolutionary root. Findings of the study also suggested challenges facing current moral education practices.