Why a little self-deception is good

How important is it to see yourself clearly, to be able to assess your strengths and weaknesses accurately? Maybe not as important as you might think, some researchers say.

In the July 30 Wall Street Journal, Sue Shellenbarger reports on research that looks at ways people deceive themselves to in order to feel better about themselves. Studies show, for example, that people tend to think that they are smarter, better looking, and easier to get along with than they really are.

The research brings to mind earlier studies of “depressive realism” -- the concept that depressed people are more accurate in assessing some situations, while non-depressed people displayed more “positive illusions.” We all use psychological defenses to avoid facing up to unpleasant things, and perhaps when we’re depressed, those defenses are less sturdy.

People who have studied self-deception say that a little bit of it can be good for you. Overestimating your strengths and downplaying your weaknesses may spur you to take on new challenges. In contrast, ruthlessly assessing your deficits and minimizing your strengths may hold you back.

Too much self-deception, though, can be harmful. Politicians are a good illustration of this. If you run for office, you have to be a little self-deceiving. You have to believe that you are the person most qualified person to solve the problems of thousands or millions of people. You have to shake off a lot of criticism and harsh attacks -- even if it’s all true. Yet history has proven over and over again that politicians’ self-deception can border on delusional -- most colorfully when they commit ethical misdeeds believing they have no risk of being caught. Self-deception, like most other character traits, exists on a continuum. Some is good, but too much can be destructive.

Yoga and Mood

There are many paths to managing moods, and one is through the body. Exercise has been shown in many studies to help with depression and anxiety. In his new book The Science of Yoga, William J. Broad takes a close look at one form of exercise, and finds it can have a dramatic effect on people’s mood.

Advanced yoga practitioners, says Broad, have a superior ability to control their autonomic nervous system, which controls bodily functions such as respiration rate, heart rate, digestion, and sexual arousal. Yoga has a particularly strong effect on the parasympathetic system, which enables us to slow down our body’s fight-or-flight response. In other words, certain poses, such as inversions, induce the heart into beating more slowly, which contributes to relaxation. Other research has shown that yoga can increase levels of the neurotransmitter GABA, which aids in relaxation and reducing anxiety.

Broad writes:

The portrait of yoga that emerges from decades of mood and metabolic studies is of a discipline that succeeds brilliantly at smoothing the ups and downs of emotional life. It uses relaxation, breathing, and postures to bring about an environment of inner bending and stretching. The actions echo, in a way, how yoga pushes the limbs into challenging new configurations. They promote inner flexibility.

Psychotherapy is one way to address anxiety or depression. But it is limited to time spent in the therapist’s office. Yoga is one of many helpful activities that people can pursue on their own and that increase one’s ability to manage emotions and control stress.

Roots of Depression

If you’re looking for the roots of depression, you may have to look further back in the past than you might think.

That’s an interesting takeaway from a recent study of 100 people who experienced depressive episodes as adults. As reported in The Atlantic, researchers found among those adults, people who had undergone trauma early in their lives were less resilient than people who had not. The people who had suffered early trauma (such as the loss of a parent) were more vulnerable to depression following later events involving interpersonal loss. And when they fell into depression as an adults, those episodes tended to be triggered by events that were less severe than those inducing depression in adults who hadn’t been hit by trauma in their youth.

The Atlantic reported these results as if one should be surprised that people’s lives as adults are affected by their early experiences. But in fact, researchers and practicing psychologists have long known about the importance of a person’s early experience in understanding their adult emotional life. Putting it bluntly, you don’t have to be Sigmund Freud to figure out that our childhood leaves an imprint on how we behave when we’re grown up. When people experience loss as children, the experience is often overwhelming; they commonly haven’t yet developed the emotional strength to overcome it. When another crisis comes along years later, it can be like having a new wound before the old one has entirely healed; people are more vulnerable to the next injury. Moreover, they may rely on whatever imperfect or faulty coping mechanisms they used as children -- behaviors that are no more effective than they were the first time around.

And yet, many people who experienced major emotional setbacks as children berate themselves, if, as adults, they are tipped into a depressive episode by a minor problem. They blame themselves for their emotional weakness. Their difficulties can be exacerbated by psychotherapists who minimize the significance of their past; while some psychologists (myself included) consider the past to be an important element (but by no means the only factor) in understanding people’s present behavior, others see little value in exploring the past. Perhaps more research like this will increase awareness about the past’s importance, enabling people to use it to address present-day issues more effectively.