1. Self-Deception Arnold Noriega

2. Wright’s uses of Self-Deception (SD)  Unconscious  Convince self it is right Due to arms race for deception  Make Friends/Enemies  Alter self-esteem?

3. Surbey (2011) SD – The preferential accessing of overly positive or idealized representations or perceptions of the self, others and the world – Evolved by regulatory mechanisms

4. Surbey (2011) What is this evolutionary mechanism? – Social Cognitive Interface (SCI) » Stores social interactions » Access social information with positive twist » “multiple-selves” represented in consciousness

5. Surbey (2011) SD related to depression? – Depression Occurs when significant loss of resources occur Conserves resources A PET scan can compare brain activity during periods of depression (left) with normal brain activity (right).

6. Surbey (2011) Advantages of depression: Reduce risk of social exclusion Adoption of subordinate behaviors Social problem solving

7. Social advantages of SD Helps maintain and facilitate reciprocal altruism – Promotes optimism Helps with positive impressions of others – More Cooperative behaviors

8. Goal of Study 1.Retest SD in depressed individuals 2.Test whether SD is underlying factor for attributions or correlates with depressive symptoms 3.Replicate association between SD and cooperative behaviors and extend them to attributional style

9. Measurements (Goal 1) SD – SD Questionnarie (SDQ) Rated from 1 (Never) to 7 (Always) – Paulhaus Deception Scales (PDS) SDE measured subconscious tendency to provide inaccurate view of self. Impression Management Scale (IM) measured positive impressions one attribute to others (control)

10. Measurements (Goal 2) Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ) – Hypothetical situations Measures Locus of control, stability and globality Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) – Measured severity of depressive symptoms The Life Orientation Test- Revised (LOT-R) – Measured overall optimism

11. Measurements (Goal 3) Used Prisoners Dilemma game to asses intentions to cooperate. – Four situations (scale from 1-complete defection to 6-maximum cooperation)

12. Findings SES positively correlated with Self- enhancement High levels of depression had reduced SD – high levels of negative attributional styles – Low levels of positive attributional styles High Self-deceivers were significantly more likely to cooperate with others Severity of depression negatively correlated to level of intention to cooperate

13. Summary Data supported all three hypothesizes – Previous findings replicated – SD not correlated with all negative attributional styles*** ( Prediction not supported) – Severity of depression associated with less intentions to cooperate

14. Discussion Argue: – Depressed individuals are “blind” to positive information – Evolution of deception led to depression Depressed individuals are better at identifying deceptive people – CBT should incorporate SD training

15. Discussion What accounts for the shift between depressive, normal and “happy” states? – Suggests when certain types of thinking becomes maladaptive mechanism will switch.

16. Positive side of Depression Adaptive?!

17. Questions?