Looking at the Self in a Rose-Colored Mirror: Unrealistically Positive Self-Views and Academic Performance

Abstract

The relationship between unrealistically positive self-evaluations and performance in an academic setting was examined in the present study. As suggested by Colvin and Block (1 994), objective criteria were used to identify individuals who held unrealistically positive self-views. More specifically, academic records were compared to self-ratings of academic ability to classify students as accurate, unrealistically positive, or unrealistically negative about their academic abilities. Consistent with Taylor and Brown's (1988) theory of positive illusions, students who were unrealistically positive achieved higher grades the semester following the study than students who were realistic or unrealistically negative.