評論
打印
An article in Scientific America has pointed out that empirical research says that, actually, you think you're more beautiful than you are. We have a deep-seated need to feel good about ourselves and we naturally employ a number of self-enhancing strategies to research into what the call the "above average effect", or "illusory superiority", and shown that, for example, 70% of us rate ourselves as above average in leadership, 93% in driving and 85% at getting on well with others--all obviously statistical impossibilities.
《科學美國人》中的一篇文章指出：實證研究表明，事實上，你總是認為自己比真正的自己要漂亮。讓自我感覺良好對我們來說是一種根深蒂固的需要。因此，我們很自然的會采用一些自我增強（心理術語）的策略來達到這一目標。社會心理學家已經對"超過平均效應"或者"虛幻的優越感"（的現象）積累了大量的研究。結果顯示，舉例來說，70%的人認為自己的領導水準是高于平均水平的，體現在駕駛（各個年齡段和性別）水平上，這個數字達到了93%，而更有85%的人覺得自己的交際能力在平均水平之上--都是聽起來不可能的數據統計。
We rose-tint our memories and put ourselves into self-affirming situations. We become defensive when criticised, and apply negative stereotypes to others to boost our own self-esteem. We stalk around thinking we're hot stuff.
我們會美化自己的記憶，并總是自我肯定。對批評我們逐漸變得急于防護，并將負面刻板的印象強加于別人來維護我們自己的自尊。我們招搖過市并自以為我們是非常受歡迎的角色。
Psychologist and behavioral scientist Nicholas Epley oversaw a key studying into self-enhancement and attractiveness. Rather than have people simply rate their beauty compared with others, he asked them to identify an original photograph of themselves from a line-up including versions that had been altered to appear more and less attractive. Visual recognition, reads the study, is "an automatic psychological process occurring rapidly and intuitively with little or no apparent conscious deliberation". If the subjects quickly chose a falsely-flattering image – which most did – they genuinely believed it was really how they looked.
心理學家和行為科學家尼古拉斯·埃普利監測到了一個關于自我增強和吸引力的關鍵性研究。除了單純讓人們對自己的長相進行心理排序，尼古拉斯普利準備了一系列照片，其中包括了一些被多多少少處理得更加美觀的照片，然后他讓受驗者從一組自己的照片中辨識出哪個是原來的版本。"視覺識別"，據其研究成果介紹，是"一個自動的心理過程，是迅速而直接地發生的，很少或者沒有明顯的熟思意識。"在實驗中，如果受驗者迅速選擇了一個虛假的美化圖像--事實上很多人都這么做了--那么說明他們真誠地相信他們本來就是那個樣子的。
Epley found no significant gender difference in responses. Nor was there any evidence that those who self-enhanced the most (that is, the participants who thought the most positively doctored picture were real) were doing so to make up for profound insecurities. In fact, those who thought that the images higher up the attractiveness scale were real directly corresponded with those who showed other makers for having higher self-esteem. "I don't think the findings that we having have are any evidence of personal delusion", says Epley. "It's a reflection simply of people generally thinking well of themselves." If you are depressed, you won't be self-enhancing.
除此之外，埃普利在實驗結果中沒有發現顯著的性別差異。同樣，也沒有任何證據表明那些自我增強感最強的人（也就是，會選擇修改后最美觀的圖片的人）這樣做是為了彌補其深深的不安全感。事實上，那些選擇更有吸引力圖片的人與那些被標識為具有更高自尊心的人直接相關。"我并不認為我們得到的這個結論能證明個人妄想，"埃普利說，"這只是人們自我感覺良好的一個簡單反應。"如果你很沮喪，你就不會有自我增強的偏向。
Knowing the results of Epley's study, it makes sense that why people hate photographs of themselves so viscerally – on one level, they don't even recognize the person in the picture as themselves. Facebook therefore, is a self-enhancer's paradise, where people can share only the most flattering photos, the cream of their wit, style, beauty, intellect and lifestyles. "It's not that people's profiles are dishonest", says Catalina Toma of Wisconsin-Madison university, "but they portray an idealized version of themselves."
知道了埃普利的研究結果，也就不難理解為什么那么多人發自內心地討厭自己的照片--到某種程度，他們根本并不認為圖片里的人就是他們自己。因此，臉書就是一個實現"自我增強"的天堂。在Facebook上，人們可以只分享虛偽而最美的照片，他們智慧、美麗、天分和生活方式的精華在這里得到了完美的展現。"這并不是說他們展現的都是不誠實的資料，"威斯康星·麥迪遜大學的卡特琳娜·托馬說，"他們塑造了一個理想化版本的自己。"
