Sometimes the behavior of others confuses us, because it is significantly at odds with what people say. The reason for this discrepancy lies in the unconscious. We are like a two-faced Janus: one face is our own ideas about ourselves, the second is how others see us. Is it possible to decipher the unconscious features of a person?
People often say one thing and do another. The friend who supposedly got over the pain of breaking up with his ex still cries into his pillow every night. Or a sister who is on a diet quietly eats chocolates. There is a friend who, despite her outstanding abilities, is always afraid to look stupider than others.
Such examples teach us to observe: do our ideas about ourselves really coincide with what others think about us? Why don’t we speak out loud about what is really happening to us? There are many reasons for this. Perhaps the friend is ashamed and does not want to admit that he is still attached to his ex-wife. An acquaintance who thinks she is stupid cannot adequately assess her abilities. Perhaps she is guided by excessively high standards.
Psychologists have long been looking for ways to decipher the “true” qualities of a person. The main idea behind this: if we ourselves cannot (or do not want to) adequately describe how we behave, then our behavior can tell everything for us. Sigmund Freud believed that psychological traits always include two levels: the conscious and the unconscious.
Study finds 75% of Americans have prejudices against blacks
For example, we know that we need to avoid sweets for health reasons. We tend to stick to this intention, but not always. The unconscious is to blame. Sometimes true motives and needs are different from thoughts. We may not be aware of them, but they guide behavior.
Paths of the Unconscious
How to measure and describe the unconscious? Freud saw a window into the unknown hidden world of people in dreams and words (the famous “Freudian slips”). Some of his considerations led to the development of so-called projective tests. With their help, clients must interpret ambiguous or completely abstract images. What they “see” provides information about unconscious motives, feelings, and relationships.
However, scientists are still arguing about the reliability of these methods. Over the past 20 years, researchers have proposed a number of other “indirect methods” to make unconscious personality traits visible.
The most common among them is the implicit association test (IAT). The team of psychologist Anthony Greenwald at the University of Washington in Seattle developed this method in 1998. The test is based on the assumption that unconscious processes are reflected in the speed with which we respond to certain stimuli.
For example, using one of the first versions of the test, Greenwald wanted to test whether there were unconscious prejudices against blacks among white Americans who consider themselves tolerant.
First, the subjects had to learn how to respond differently to words appearing on a computer screen. When pleasant terms appeared, such as “happiness”, “joy”, they had to press the e key, and when they saw unpleasant ones, such as “failure”, “evil”, they had to press the i key. After this part of the experiment, not only positive and negative words appeared on the monitor, but also photographs of the faces of black and white people.
The trick was that in the next round, the assignment of the keys changed. The subjects now had to use the e key for positive terms and black faces, and the i key for negative words and white faces.
During this procedure, the reaction time was recorded. Greenwald concluded that, in participants’ memory, white people were more associated with good qualities, while black people were more associated with bad ones.
For IAT proponents, these implicit associations have become synonymous with unconscious attitudes. The study found that 75% of European Americans have prejudices against blacks, even if they don’t admit it. Because of these findings, the method has been heavily criticized.
Meanwhile, various research groups are using Greenwald’s method as a model and extending its algorithm to other areas: attitudes towards homosexuals, East Germans, or self-esteem. The results obtained are surprising. For example, the IAT on the topic of age revealed an implicit negative attitude towards older people in about 80% of those surveyed. This is all the more remarkable because most people did not openly express negativity towards the elderly.
Narcissistic mismatch
In addition to IAT, there are a number of other ways to detect the “unconscious person”. In addition to social psychologists who are primarily concerned with implicit relation to others, personality researchers are increasingly resorting to indirect procedures. For example, they try to track habitual self-esteem and self-esteem at an unconscious level.
Many people are confident in themselves, but outwardly it may look very different. A colleague says that he is the backbone of the department. But sometimes he feels insecure in this role. This does not mean that he wants to deliberately hide his weaknesses. It’s just that in some people the conscious self does not agree with the unconscious.
People with narcissistic mismatch tend to be overly optimistic
Two forms of discrepancy may arise: Explicit (conscious) self-esteem may be higher or lower than implicit (unconscious). The first of these two inconsistencies brings many scholars closer to the topic of narcissism. There is an idea that narcissists try to exude more self-confidence because, unconsciously, they have more doubts.
The team of psychologist Jennifer Bosson in 2008 reviewed all previous research on this “narcissistic inconsistency”. First of all, according to scientists from the University of Texas at Austin, narcissists are dominated by unconscious doubts about their friendliness. On the contrary, the “modest type” is characterized by low explicit and high implicit self-esteem. They intuitively know that they are competent, but deliberately do not want to demonstrate this in order not to be arrogant. Or they are ready to show competence only in exceptional, decisive moments.
What are the implications of this discrepancy between unconscious and conscious self-esteem? People with narcissistic inadequacy have a hard time when others question their self-worth. They seem to suspect their own shortcomings, so they are especially sensitive. A 2003 study by Bosson found that they tend to be unrealistic, overly optimistic. They react painfully to criticism, which does not allow them to adequately assess their actions and capabilities.
Source: spektrum.de