Distorted thinking
The brain on power
It appears that the old axiom is true – power corrupts. And, the more deserving the powerful person feels to be in their position – the more deserving they feel to live by different rules than everyone else.
They argue, therefore, that people with power that they think is justified break rules not only because they can get away with it, but also because they feel at some intuitive level that they are entitled to take what they want. This sense of entitlement is crucial to understanding why people misbehave in high office. In its absence, abuses will be less likely. The word “privilege” translates as “private law”. If Dr Lammers and Dr Galinsky are right, the sense which some powerful people seem to have that different rules apply to them is not just a convenient smoke screen. They genuinely believe it.
via The psychology of power: Absolutely | The Economist.
This is a great article. I have an additional theory that people have a balance of good/ bad that their brains try to balance. In other words, when someone does something good (or, they they personally feel is good) – then they feel like they deserve to get away with extra benefits at someone else’s expense. For example, I think that a crooked politician often feels like they deserve extra benefits and power (even if it costs a lot of money, is immoral, or wasteful) if they feel like they passed some legislation that that “helped” a lot of people. In their minds, having an affair or a personal boondoggle benefitting them is not really bad because they passed a budget-busting multi-million dollar spending package that helped a million people. Our legislators at some point stop looking at themselves as representatives and start looking at themselves as valiant leaders who bend a few rules, but make lives better for their constituents. In their minds they deserve to be above the rules because on balance they created so much good in the world – and on balance – they are impacting the wold to the positive (in their minds).
Narcissism, charm, and popularity
Narcissists appear to be more charming and popular at first meeting them. Some research into proof of this bias – and possible reasons why…
On the basis of a realistic behavioral approach, the authors showed that narcissists are popular at zero acquaintance and aimed to explain why this is the case. In Study 1, a group of psychology freshmen (N = 73) judged each other on the basis of brief self-introductions using a large round-robin design (2,628 dyads). Three main findings were revealed:
First, narcissism leads to popularity at first sight.
Second, the aspects of narcissism that are most maladaptive in the long run (exploitativeness/entitlement) proved to be most attractive at zero acquaintance.
Third, an examination of observable verbal and nonverbal behaviors as well as aspects of physical appearance provided an explanation for why narcissists are more popular at first sight.
Results were confirmed using judgments of uninvolved perceivers under 3 different conditions for which the amount of available information was varied systematically: (a) full information (video and sound, Study 2), (b) nonverbal information only (video only, Study 3), or (c) physical information only (still photograph of clothing, Study 4). These findings have important implications for understanding the inter- and intrapersonal dynamics of narcissism.
(PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved) from Journal of Personality and Social Psychology – Vol 97, Iss 5 by Back, Mitja D.; Schmukle, Stefan C.; Egloff, Boris
via Are narcissists more charming?: – Barking up the wrong tree.
Can feeling like a victim increase selfishness?
Entitlement and victimization can increase selfishness…
Three experiments demonstrated that feeling wronged leads to a sense of entitlement and to selfish behavior. In Experiment 1, participants instructed to recall a time when their lives were unfair were more likely to refuse to help the experimenter with a supplementary task than were participants who recalled a time when they were bored. In Experiment 2, the same manipulation increased intentions to engage in a number of selfish behaviors, and this effect was mediated by self-reported entitlement to obtain positive (and avoid negative) outcomes. In Experiment 3, participants who lost at a computer game for an unfair reason (a glitch in the program) requested a more selfish money allocation for a future task than did participants who lost the game for a fair reason, and this effect was again mediated by entitlement.
via Journal of Personality and Social Psychology – Vol 97, Iss 5
via Does feeling like a victim make you selfish?: – Barking up the wrong tree.
10 Keys to Happiness
Based on psychological research, Alternet/ Yes Magazine published 10 keys to happiness. Here is a paraphrased version:
1. Savor the moment
2. Don’t try to keep up with the Joneses
3. Don’t concentrate on the money
4. Set goals to make a difference
5. Take initiative at work
6. Treasure family and friends
7. Stay optimistic even if you don’t feel like it
8. Have gratitude for the good things
9. Exercise
10.Give it away
willmurphy.wordpress.com 