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Reflections on self-deception

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 February 2011

William von Hippel  and
Robert Trivers
William von Hippel
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia. billvh@psy.uq.edu.au http://www.psy.uq.edu.au/directory/index.html?id=1159
Robert Trivers
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901. trivers@rci.rutgers.edu http://anthro.rutgers.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=102&Itemid=136
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Abstract

Commentators raised 10 major questions with regard to self-deception: Are dual representations necessary? Does self-deception serve intrapersonal goals? What forces shape self-deception? Are there cultural differences in self-deception? What is the self? Does self-deception have costs? How well do people detect deception? Are self-deceivers lying? Do cognitive processes account for seemingly motivational ones? And how is mental illness tied up with self-deception? We address these questions and conclude that none of them compel major modifications to our theory of self-deception, although many commentators provided helpful suggestions and observations.

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Type
Authors' Response
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 34 , Issue 1 , February 2011 , pp. 41 - 56
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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