Ordinary hubris: A view from social and personality psychology
Ordinary hubris: A view from social and personality psychology
In this chapter, we are concerned with ordinary hubris – what social and personality psychologists empirically study under the heading of self-enhancement. This umbrella term refers to both (a) the motive to augment or protect the positivity of the self, and (b) probable manifestations of that motive at a cognitive or behavioural level. We review five such manifestations: the better-than-average effect (regarding oneself as superior to others); the self-serving bias (taking credit for success but disavowing blame for failure); selective memory (forgetting one’s weaknesses but not one’s strengths); overclaiming (endorsing flattering falsehoods about oneself); and socially desirable responding (strategically acting to gain social approval). We also discuss the case of excessive self-enhancement: narcissism. This personality trait combines self-serving grandiosity with manipulative propensity. Narcissists irrationally over-exhibit all five key manifestations of self-enhancement but are likely to be over-represented among movers and shakers. We conclude with a nuanced consideration of self-enhancement’s costs and benefits.
self, self-enhancement, self-evaluation, hubris, self-esteem
123–138
Cambridge University Press
Sedikides, Constantine
9d45e66d-75bb-44de-87d7-21fd553812c2
Gregg, Aiden
1b03bb58-b3a5-4852-a177-29e4f633b063
2025
Sedikides, Constantine
9d45e66d-75bb-44de-87d7-21fd553812c2
Gregg, Aiden
1b03bb58-b3a5-4852-a177-29e4f633b063
Sedikides, Constantine and Gregg, Aiden
(2025)
Ordinary hubris: A view from social and personality psychology.
In,
Cairns, Douglas, Bouras, Nick and Sadler-Smith, Eugene
(eds.)
Hubris, Ancient and Modern: Concepts, Comparisons, Connections.
Cambridge University Press, .
(doi:10.1017/9781009461405.008).
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Abstract
In this chapter, we are concerned with ordinary hubris – what social and personality psychologists empirically study under the heading of self-enhancement. This umbrella term refers to both (a) the motive to augment or protect the positivity of the self, and (b) probable manifestations of that motive at a cognitive or behavioural level. We review five such manifestations: the better-than-average effect (regarding oneself as superior to others); the self-serving bias (taking credit for success but disavowing blame for failure); selective memory (forgetting one’s weaknesses but not one’s strengths); overclaiming (endorsing flattering falsehoods about oneself); and socially desirable responding (strategically acting to gain social approval). We also discuss the case of excessive self-enhancement: narcissism. This personality trait combines self-serving grandiosity with manipulative propensity. Narcissists irrationally over-exhibit all five key manifestations of self-enhancement but are likely to be over-represented among movers and shakers. We conclude with a nuanced consideration of self-enhancement’s costs and benefits.
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Sedikides & Gregg, 2026 (in Cairns, Bouras, & Sadler-Smith)
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Sedikides & Gregg, 2026 (in Cairns et al.)
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Published date: 2025
Keywords:
self, self-enhancement, self-evaluation, hubris, self-esteem
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Local EPrints ID: 510699
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/510699
PURE UUID: 53468739-197c-4a7a-922d-3c3f7392f913
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Date deposited: 16 Apr 2026 17:09
Last modified: 17 Apr 2026 01:38
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Contributors
Editor:
Douglas Cairns
Editor:
Nick Bouras
Editor:
Eugene Sadler-Smith
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