Universität zu Köln

Stavrova, Olga ORCID: 0000-0002-6079-4151 and Ehlebracht, Daniel (2019). The Cynical Genius Illusion: Exploring and Debunking Lay Beliefs About Cynicism and Competence. Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull., 45 (2). S. 254 - 270. THOUSAND OAKS: SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC. ISSN 1552-7433

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Abstract

Cynicism refers to a negative appraisal of human naturea belief that self-interest is the ultimate motive guiding human behavior. We explored laypersons' beliefs about cynicism and competence and to what extent these beliefs correspond to reality. Four studies showed that laypeople tend to believe in cynical individuals' cognitive superiority. A further three studies based on the data of about 200,000 individuals from 30 countries debunked these lay beliefs as illusionary by revealing that cynical (vs. less cynical) individuals generally do worse on cognitive ability and academic competency tasks. Cross-cultural analyses showed that competent individuals held contingent attitudes and endorsed cynicism only if it was warranted in a given sociocultural environment. Less competent individuals embraced cynicism unconditionally, suggesting thatat low levels of competenceholding a cynical worldview might represent an adaptive default strategy to avoid the potential costs of falling prey to others' cunning.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Stavrova, Olga UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0002-6079-4151 UNSPECIFIED Ehlebracht, Daniel UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-157497
DOI:	10.1177/0146167218783195
Journal or Publication Title:	Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull.
Volume:	45
Number:	2
Page Range:	S. 254 - 270
Date:	2019
Publisher:	SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC
Place of Publication:	THOUSAND OAKS
ISSN:	1552-7433
Language:	English
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language COGNITIVE-ABILITY; ERROR MANAGEMENT; SOCIAL AXIOMS; HOSTILITY; EDUCATION; PHILOSOPHIES; ASSOCIATION; PERSONALITY; ATTRACTION; DECISION Multiple languages Psychology, Social Multiple languages
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/15749