Scientific article
English

On Introspection and Self-Perception: Does Self-Focused Attention Enable Accurate Self-Knowledge?

Published inReview of general psychology, vol. 5, no. 3, p. 241-269
Publication date2001-09-01
First online date2001-09-01
Abstract

How is introspection related to accurate self-perception? Self-focused attention is said to facilitate accurate judgments of cognitive aspects (attitudes, standards, and attributions) and somatic aspects (sensations, arousal, physical symptoms, emotions) of self. The present skeptical review concludes that the “perceptual accuracy hypothesis” is unsupported. There is simply little direct evidence, and the indirect evidence is better explained by objective self-awareness theory's core tenet: Self-focus increases consistency motivation. Most studies have also failed to appreciate the complexity of establishing the accuracy of self-judgment. The authors discuss some conceptual issues that future work should recognize, such as the logics of accuracy research, the role of honesty standards in accurate self-reports, differences in self-perception and object perception, and the implications of different self-theories for accuracy.

Affiliation entities Not a UNIGE publication
Citation (ISO format)
SILVIA, Paul J., GENDOLLA, Guido H.E. On Introspection and Self-Perception: Does Self-Focused Attention Enable Accurate Self-Knowledge? In: Review of general psychology, 2001, vol. 5, n° 3, p. 241–269. doi: 10.1037/1089-2680.5.3.241
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Article (Published version)
accessLevelRestricted
Identifiers
Journal ISSN1089-2680
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