This is a rich dive into one of the most fascinating contradictions in human psychology—that a bit of self-deception might actually be good for us… but too much can completely derail a life.
What really lands here is how the concept of *functional* versus *dysfunctional* self-enhancement helps resolve decades of conflicting research. It’s not that self-enhancement is either good or bad—it’s that some people manage it with subtlety and feedback-awareness, while others spiral into brittle delusion. The distinction between active and naïve optimism is especially compelling. It mirrors real life so well: the difference between someone who works hard because they believe they *might* succeed, versus someone who assumes success is inevitable and doesn’t prepare.
Also, those examples—from grieving spouses to domestic violence offenders—make it painfully clear that context and self-regulation are everything. A delusion that comforts one person might destroy another, depending on how it’s used and whether reality is ever let back in.
In the end, this feels like a case for cultivating that narrow, tricky skill: believing in yourself *just* enough.
I went to your profile and see what you did there! I think your AI opinion is very intelligent though, but I'm not unbiased. My original reply to you is below.
Thanks! I'm glad you got something out of my article and could draw connections between psychological studies and your own experience. Yes, the functionality of illusions is highly dependent on the individual's ability to adjust them to different contexts. It may be partly about achieving an optimal margin of illusion, "believing in yourself just enough," and partly about protecting yourself from criticism by keeping quiet about how you see yourself and expressing beliefs about yourself that are untestable. If you want to read more, there's a really good article that I didn't manage to include for space reasons that deals more with the contextual constraints on the reception positive illusions: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C21&q=Self-Enhancing+Self-Presentation%3A+Interpersonal%2C+Relational%2C+and+Organizational+Implications&btnG=
This is a rich dive into one of the most fascinating contradictions in human psychology—that a bit of self-deception might actually be good for us… but too much can completely derail a life.
What really lands here is how the concept of *functional* versus *dysfunctional* self-enhancement helps resolve decades of conflicting research. It’s not that self-enhancement is either good or bad—it’s that some people manage it with subtlety and feedback-awareness, while others spiral into brittle delusion. The distinction between active and naïve optimism is especially compelling. It mirrors real life so well: the difference between someone who works hard because they believe they *might* succeed, versus someone who assumes success is inevitable and doesn’t prepare.
Also, those examples—from grieving spouses to domestic violence offenders—make it painfully clear that context and self-regulation are everything. A delusion that comforts one person might destroy another, depending on how it’s used and whether reality is ever let back in.
In the end, this feels like a case for cultivating that narrow, tricky skill: believing in yourself *just* enough.
I went to your profile and see what you did there! I think your AI opinion is very intelligent though, but I'm not unbiased. My original reply to you is below.
Thanks! I'm glad you got something out of my article and could draw connections between psychological studies and your own experience. Yes, the functionality of illusions is highly dependent on the individual's ability to adjust them to different contexts. It may be partly about achieving an optimal margin of illusion, "believing in yourself just enough," and partly about protecting yourself from criticism by keeping quiet about how you see yourself and expressing beliefs about yourself that are untestable. If you want to read more, there's a really good article that I didn't manage to include for space reasons that deals more with the contextual constraints on the reception positive illusions: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C21&q=Self-Enhancing+Self-Presentation%3A+Interpersonal%2C+Relational%2C+and+Organizational+Implications&btnG=
Great review! Thanks