Illusion is the Rotten-Thighed Whore

Psychological well-being is known to be intimately connected with the maintenance of certain illusions, or positively skewed distortions of reality. These illusions that help promote psychological health are routinely applied by the average person in the service of coloring perceptions of the self, others, and the larger group with which one identifies (e.g. culture). Social psychologists have accumulated a vast amount of evidence supporting the role of three specific illusions on increasing psychological well-being: unrealistically positive self-evaluations, exaggerated perceptions of control, and unrealistic optimism (Taylor & Brown, 1988). The literature also suggests that people with lower self-esteem and overall higher levels of depressive symptoms are typically less prone to using such illusions. This evidence begs for a careful analysis of the broader implications of apparently healthy self-deceit and its implications with regard to the basic goals of psychotherapy.

Although positive illusions have been shown to promote psychological well-being, there is also evidence that a loss of imagined hope for the future is associated with suicide risk (Beck & Weishaar, 1990; Conner, Duberstein, Conwell, Seidlitz, & Caine, 2001). In this respect, an illusory view of one’s future can be detrimental to psychological health when the illusion is no longer maintained. Should the goal of psychotherapy then be to cultivate positively skewed illusions in patients or to help them view their lives more realistically? Perhaps a more important question to ask is to what end do such positive illusions serve on a global scale in terms of human behavior. It could be for example, as Terror Management Theory (TMT; Greenberg, Pyszczynski & Solomon, 1986) research supports that the positive psychological effects of illusions on the individual also work to promote more violence towards others in the service of maintaining said illusions. One thing is for certain however; illusion is of paramount importance to the human animal. Indeed, in his book The Denial of Death (1973), Ernest Becker elaborates on the existential meaning of illusions in human life by stating the following:

‘Illusion’ means creative play at its highest level. Cultural illusion is a necessary ideology of self-justification, a heroic dimension that is life itself to the symbolic animal. To lose the security of heroic cultural illusion is to die (p. 189).

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The principle benefit of employing positive illusions in everyday life is witnessed in the self-fulfilling prophecy. For example, holding an exaggerated view of one’s ability in some domain can simultaneously decrease anxiety and increase self-confidence, which in turn boosts performance and thereby ensures the increased probability of confirming one’s positive bias with a successful outcome (e.g. better performance at a job interview). A similar type of self-fulfilling prophecy may also be employed in the service of maintaining a cultural illusion, in that a positive bias towards one’s cultural worldview can be reinforced when the culture defeats or gets one over on a rival (e.g. through war). To this end, Taylor and Brown (1988) argue that “faith in the inherent goodness of one’s beliefs and actions may lead a person to trample on the rights and values of others” (p. 204). Such a possibility seems to support the potentially less destructive effects of the depressive position with regard to the world at large. If positive illusions were much less commonplace, a good many people would then likely suffer from a lowered sense of psychological well-being, but alternatively would be less prone to inflicting harm on others.

An analysis of the research on illusion and mental health therefore leads to the conclusion of its likely being a double edged sword. Psychotherapy is but one area that should take heed of this. It would seem that the therapist’s job is in part to help the patient strike a balance of illusions. Clearly, self deception is necessary for effective psychological functioning, but too much reliance on self-deceit may have negative outcomes on the individual through the risks associated with the loss of illusion, and on the societal level through one’s relationships with different others. Positive illusions should thus be employed with the utmost caution.

References

Beck, A.T. & Weishaar, M.E. (1990). Suicide risk assessment and prediction. Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention, 11, 22-30.

Becker, E. (1973). The denial of death. New York: Free Press. Connor, K.R., Duberstein, P.R.,

Conwell, Y., Seidlitz, L. & Caine, E.D. (2001). Psychological vulnerability to completed suicide: A review of empirical studies. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 31, 367-385.

Greenberg, J., Pyszczynski, T. & Solomon, S. (1986). The causes and consequences of a need for self-esteem: A terror management theory. In R.F. Baumeister (E.D.), Public Self and Private Self (pp. 189-212). New York: Springer-Verlag.

Taylor, S.E. & Brown, J.S. (1988). Illusion and well-being: A social psychological perspective on mental health. Psychological Bulletin, 103, 193-210.