Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T14:57:37.809Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The selfish goal: Self-deception occurs naturally from autonomous goal operation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 February 2011

Julie Y. Huang  and
John A. Bargh
Julie Y. Huang
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520. julie.huang@yale.edu, john.bargh@yale.eduwww.yale.edu/acmelab
John A. Bargh
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520. julie.huang@yale.edu, john.bargh@yale.eduwww.yale.edu/acmelab
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Self-deception may be a natural consequence of active goal operation instead of an adaptation for negotiating the social world. We argue that because autonomous goal programs likely drove human judgment and behavior prior to evolution of a central executive or “self,” these goal programs can operate independently to attain their desired end states and thereby produce outcomes that “deceive” the individual.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 34 , Issue 1 , February 2011 , pp. 27 - 28
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Balcetis, E. & Dunning, D. (2010) Wishful seeing: Desired objects are seen as closer. Psychological Science 21:147–52.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bargh, J. A., Green, M. & Fitzsimons, G. (2008) The selfish goal: Unintended consequences of intended goal pursuits. Social Cognition 26:520–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bargh, J. A. & Huang, J. Y. (2009) The selfish goal. In: The psychology of goals, ed. Moskowitz, G. B. & Grant, H., pp. 127–50. Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Bargh, J. A. & Morsella, E. (2008) The unconscious mind. Perspectives on Psychological Science 3:73–79.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Corballis, M. C. (2007) The evolution of consciousness. In: The Cambridge handbook of consciousness, ed. Zelazo, P. D., Moscovitch, M. & Thompson, E., pp. 571–95. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Dawkins, R. (1976) The selfish gene. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Donald, M. (1991) Origins of the modern mind. Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Effron, D., Cameron, J. S. & Monin, B. (2009) Endorsing Obama licenses favoring Whites. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 45:590–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferguson, M. J. (2008) On becoming ready to pursue a goal you don't know you have: Effects of nonconscious goals on evaluative readiness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 95:1268–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Förster, J., Liberman, N. & Higgins, E. T. (2005) Accessibility from active and fulfilled goals. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 41(3):220–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayr, E. (1976) Evolution and the diversity of life. Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Monin, B. & Miller, D. T. (2001) Moral credentials and the expression of prejudice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 81:33–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tooby, J. & Cosmides, L. (1992) The psychological foundations of culture. In: The adapted mind: Evolutionary psychology and the generation of culture, ed. Barkow, J. H., Cosmides, L. & Tooby, J., pp. 19–136. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Veltkamp, M., Aarts, H. & Custers, R. (2008) Perception in the service of goal pursuit: Motivation to attain goals enhances the perceived size of goal-instrumental objects. Social Cognition 26:720–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar