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The cynical genius illusion: Exploring and debunking lay beliefs about cynicism and competence
Stavrova,O. Ehlebracht,Daniel
Stavrova,O.
Ehlebracht,Daniel
Abstract
Cynicism refers to a negative appraisal of human nature—a belief that self-interest is the ultimate motive guiding human behavior. We explored laypersons’ beliefs about cynicism and competence and to what extent these beliefs correspond to reality. Four studies showed that laypeople tend to believe in cynical individuals’ cognitive superiority. A further three studies based on the data of about 200,000 individuals from 30 countries debunked these lay beliefs as illusionary by revealing that cynical (vs. less cynical) individuals generally do worse on cognitive ability and academic competency tasks. Cross-cultural analyses showed that competent individuals held contingent attitudes and endorsed cynicism only if it was warranted in a given sociocultural environment. Less competent individuals embraced cynicism unconditionally, suggesting that—at low levels of competence—holding a cynical worldview might represent an adaptive default strategy to avoid the potential costs of falling prey to others’ cunning. Keywords cynicism, competence, lay theories, social perception
Description
Date
2019
Journal Title
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Volume Title
Publisher
Research Projects
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Journal Issue
Keywords
ASSOCIATION, ATTRACTION, COGNITIVE-ABILITY, DECISION, EDUCATION, ERROR MANAGEMENT, HOSTILITY, PERSONALITY, PHILOSOPHIES, SOCIAL AXIOMS, competence, cynicism, lay theories, social perception
Citation
Stavrova, O & Ehlebracht, D 2019, 'The cynical genius illusion : Exploring and debunking lay beliefs about cynicism and competence', Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, vol. 45, no. 2, pp. 254-269. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167218783195
License
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess