Status-enhancement Account Of Biased Ability Self-assessments

In some studies, the overconfidence belief that one is better than others was considered as an drawbacks of human’s cognition for it always leads to faulty assessments, unrealistic expectations and hazardous decisions. Resently, however, some authors have suggested that not just confidence but overconfidence-believing you are better than you are in reality-is advantageous because it serves to increase ambition, morale, resolve, persistence or the credibility of bluffing, generating a self-fulfilling prophecy in which exaggerated confidence actually increases the probability of success. But few works have been done to check the probable benifit of deflated self-assessment. So we tested four questions in two studies based on social comparison stuation:in study1, under the background of group cooperation, we examined the different ability and status accounts among inflated, moderated and deflated self-assessments of ability; in study2, under the background of groups cooperation, we used false responses to manipulate self-assessment to examine the different ability and status accounts among inflated, moderated and deflated self-assessments of ability;then we compared biased self-assessments of two conditions in study1and study2to examine if there are any differences existed;we tested the mediating effect of the ability team-assessments impact on relative ability self-assessments and status team-assessments. Consistent with this proposal, we found that:(1)in natural conditions, compared with both moderated and deflated self-assessments of task ability, inflated self-assessments of task ability are associated higer ability and status team-assessments, and there are no higher significant different between moderated and deflated self-assessment group;(2)after false feedback manipulations, compared with both moderated and deflated self-assessments of task ability, inflated self-assessments of task ability are associated with higher ability and status team-assessments, and there are no higher significant different between moderated and deflated self-assessment group;(3) status team-assessments exerts as the mediator between relative ability self-assessment and status team-assessments;(4) irrespective of natural of false feedback condition, the status account of three different biased self assessments have no significant effect.