It seems that even those who have been incarcerated fall prey to the idea that they are better than others. New research from the University of Southampton has found that those in prison believe themselves to be kinder, more moral, more self-controlled, and more generous than non-prisoners.
According to the study published in the British Journal of Social Psychology, prisoners also didn’t find themselves to be less law abiding as those outside the prison walls. In fact, they considered themselves equally law abiding.
According to Professor of Social and Personality Psychology and Director of the Centre for Research on Self and Identity at the University of Southampton Constantine Sedikides, this is one of the most compelling findings in support of self-enhancement to date.
Sedikides found it particularly interesting that the prisoners did not self-enhance by finding themselves to be superior in strength or toughness, but instead on pro-social traits. In effect, they ignored the reality that they were in prison in order to enhance their vision of themselves.
The study required 79 prisoners from south England to fill out a survey rating themselves in comparison to both other prisoners and average members of the community. The survey covered nine social traits: morality, kindness, trustworthiness, honesty, dependability, compassion, generousness, self-control, and adherence to the law.
Interestingly, the prisoners rated themselves to be superior to most community members on all traits, with the exception of adherence to the law. On that question, they rated themselves as being equal with the average community member.
According to Sedikides, these results show just how strong the motivation toward self-enhancement is. It is psychologically important for people to consider themselves to be justified, no matter what the reality of their current situation is.
Of course, prisoners aren’t the only people who tend to enhance their self image. Most of us do just that and put up formidable defenses against anyone who doubts us.
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