Between the ideal self and the real self -- Overconfidence caused by the discrepancy between Jungian self-images

In Part 8, we walked through techniques for observing, identifying, and reducing overconfidence. This time we return to the psychological core of this series. The deepest roots of overconfidence lie in a misaligned self-image.. In Part 3 of this series, we dealt with Freud's defense mechanisms, but this time we will focus on Freud's heretical contemporaries. carl gustav jung (1875–1961) in analytical psychology to understand overconfidence from the structure of self-image. Jung's persona and shadow, ego inflation,carl rogers (1902–1987)'s congruence -- the distance between the ideal self and the real self, British child psychoanalyst donald winnicott (1896–1971) false self and true self,abraham maslow (1908–1970)'s self-actualization theory, Buddhism's "self-view" and no-self -- six perspectives expressed in different words. Self-image supports overconfidence I have been referring to the same deep structure. This time, we will go down one level from the level of cognition that we have been dealing with so far, and explore the roots of overconfidence at the level of personality and self-image.

01Why return to depth psychology at the end of this series?

Overconfidence, which we have dealt with in Parts 1 to 8, mainly refers to level of cognition It was a phenomenon in Confidence intervals, attentional biases, confirmation biases, attribution distortions, and defense mechanisms operate at the interface between the cognitive and the unconscious. However, some of the forms of overconfidence that this series deals with have a depth that cannot be reached by these cognitive-level descriptions alone. it is self-image level --- It's all about how you view yourself and how far that view deviates from reality.

Specifically, this is the question. Why is it so much harder for some people to "admit mistakes" than for others? Why, out of two experts with similar abilities, does one improve quickly through calibration training (Part 8), while the other has little effect? Why are people so deeply shaken or even have a negative reaction when they hear about correcting overconfidence? Cognitive-level descriptions cannot answer these questions.Overconfidence is difficult to correct precisely because it is directly tied to a person's self-image -- their sense of who they are.. This is the central proposition of this issue.

"All problems of personality come down to a problem of self-image. We act, judge, and feel in order to maintain the image we have of ourselves. The farther that image is from reality, the more unconscious work is done to support it. This is the core of the neurotic personality structure." - From C. G. Jung, Psychologische Typen (1921)

The structure of this episode is that the first half (sections 2 to 6) traces the six traditions of depth psychology, and the second half (sections 7 to 10) examines the Buddhist perspective, actual scenes, and manners for adjusting one's self-image. If the seventh installment of this series had an ethical core, this one psychological core is.

02Jung's Persona and Shadow ── The two-layered structure of self-image

One of the most influential concepts that Jung brought to analytical psychology waspersona and shadow This is a pair of Persona is taken from the Latin word for mask in ancient theater, and refers to the aspect of oneself that one presents to society - the self as a role, the outward face. Shadow refers to the dark side that your persona does not illuminate - the side of yourself that you do not want to acknowledge.

Jung's proposition that comes directly to this episode is:The most common illusion of personality is to confuse the persona with the true self (Self). That's what it means. Experts, managers, parents --- The longer a person holds a role, the more likely the persona for that role becomes. myself It's easy to feel that way. This confusion is the first stage of self-image distortion.

"A persona is a kind of mask about who we are as individuals. It is a persona designed to deceive both others and ourselves. Many people are unable to distinguish between their persona and their true self. People who identify with their professional persona often unconsciously banish other parts of their personality as shadows." -- C. G. Jung, The Relations between the Ego and the Unconscious. Purpose from “Unconscious)” (1928)

The implications are profound when considering the career of a material examiner. The more these role personas become fixed: ``strict examiner,'' ``expert who understands regulations,'' and ``experienced reviewer,'' the more aspects that contradict them -- the moments when you overlook something, the moments when you waver in your judgment, the moments when you are swayed by the other person's words -- are banished to the shadows.What is banished to the shadows does not disappear, but retains its power in the unconscious.. This is the personality theory foundation of the defense mechanism discussed in Part 3.

03Ego inflation ── Deep psychological description of overconfidence

The concept that Jung directly discussed overconfidence isego inflation is. This refers to a state in which the ego transcends its original boundaries and perceives its knowledge, abilities, and insights as greater than they actually are. On the surface it looks like confidence, but structurally it is a state in which the relationship between the ego and the true self (Self) is distorted.

"Ego inflation is often confused with actual development of abilities, but they are two different things. Genuine development of abilities is accompanied by a deepening awareness of one's own limitations -- the more one knows, the more one sees the extent of one's unknowns. Ego expansion is the opposite -- one loses sight of one's own limitations and feels like one has it all. This is the most subtle enemy of the individuation process." -- C.G. Purpose from Jung's Theory of Archetypes (1959)

Jung's description of ego inflation ties directly into Darwin's observation, discussed in Part 1 of this series, that "ignorance breeds confidence more often than knowledge." Dunning and Kruger's empirical research (part 2) can be read as modern cognitive psychology rediscovering through experiments what Jung had described half a century ago in the language of depth psychology.

Jung lists typical symptoms of ego expansion.feeling of looking down on others、belief in the absoluteness of one's opinion、overreacting to opposing opinions、Intoxication with big plans、Fear of talking about limits. These are different words that refer to the same place as the signs of overconfidence that we covered in Part 5 of this series.

04Rogers' self-concordance - ideal self and actual self

An American humanistic psychologist translated Jung's depth psychology into a more clinical and practical language. carl rogers It was. One of his central concepts isself-congruence --- The degree of congruence between the reality you experience and the self-image you perceive. Rogers codified this concept in his 1959 paper "A theory of therapy, personality, and interpersonal relationships."

An important distinction made by Rogers is thatideal self and real self is. The ideal self is what you want yourself to be, what you want yourself to be. The real self is what you actually experience. He argued that the greater the distance between the two, the stronger the personality tension.

「人格の不一致は、現実自己と理想自己のあいだの距離が、現実から目を背けることでしか保てなくなった状態である。この距離を保つために、人は防衛的になり、現実の情報を歪めて取り入れる。完全な一致は到達できる目標ではないが、距離を縮めることは可能であり、それが心理的健康の方向性である」── Carl Rogers『A Theory of Therapy』(1959) より趣旨

If we reread Rogers' self-concordance in the context of this series, we can see the structure of overconfidence.Overconfidence is when the ideal self seeks ``I am a strict and accurate judge,'' even though the real self is ``a person who has a habit of making judgments and sometimes makes mistakes.'' In order to maintain that distance, reality is distorted and perceived.. Because the experience of failure threatens the ideal self, it is attributed to external factors (Part 4). Opposing opinions shake the ideal self, so they are refuted without being heard (Part 5). Overconfidence is both a cognitive distortion and a defense that supports a misaligned self-image.

05Winnicott's False Self and True Self

The person who deepened the self-image theory of Jung and Rogers most existentially was a British child psychoanalyst. donald winnicott It was. In his 1960 paper ``Ego distortion in terms of true and false self,'' he false self and true self の区別を立てました。これは現代の対象関係論と発達心理学に深く影響を与えた概念です。

“A false self is a self constructed to meet the expectations of others. A socially functional, competent, appropriate self, and a self that has separated, often without the person realizing it, from their true self. A healthy false self is necessary for social life, but when it overshadows the real self, even to myself From Donald Winnicott's International Journal of Psycho-Analysis (1960)

Winnicott's proposition has profound implications when considering long-term professional careers. Over the course of 10 or 20 years of work as a materials examiner, the self-image of a ``strict expert'' becomes fixed in layers as a persona (Jung), an ideal self (Rogers), and a false self (Winnicott). These three are different concepts, but they are aimed at the same place. Risk of role self overshadowing true self。

Herein lies the deepest structure of overconfidence."I am a person who has a tendency to judge, vacillate, and make mistakes." - Recognizing this true self threatens the false self as an expert.. Therefore, overconfidence cannot be completely resolved using cognitive techniques (Part 8). Reconciliation between the false self and the true self is necessary. This is long-term work, and it is the kind of work that is supported by psychotherapy, reflective habits, and trusting relationships.

06Maslow's self-actualization ─ The state of B-cognition

The person who most existentially and ethically described the state of overcoming the gap in self-image was an American humanistic psychologist. abraham maslow It was. In his 1954 book Motivation and Personality, he developed a hierarchy of needs, but more importantly in this context, he developed a hierarchy of needs in his later years. B-cognition (existence cognition) and D-cognition (deficiency cognition) This is a distinction.

“People who have achieved self-actualization As it is Has the ability to perceive. They are able to see objects for what they are, without distorting reality with their own desires, fears, and expectations. This is B-cognition (existence cognition). On the other hand, most people's perceptions are D-cognitions driven by scarcity motives -- they project their own anxieties and desires onto reality, distorting the way they view objects.'' -- From Abraham Maslow's Toward a Psychology of Being (1962)

Maslow の B-cognition は、本シリーズで描いてきた中庸の状態 (第 7 回) を、認知のレベルで言語化したものとも読めます。理想自己と現実自己が分離していない、ペルソナと本来の自己が和解している、偽の自己と本当の自己が共存している ── そういう人格状態でだけ、現実をあるがままに見る判断が可能になる。これは Davis らの知的謙遜の実証研究 (第 7 回) の心理学的な背景でもあります。

It should be noted that Maslow defined B-cognition as end point to be achieved It is not depicted as such. It is a state of personality that emerges from moment to moment, and it repeatedly retreats and advances. As with moderation (part 7) in this series, it is a dynamic equilibrium that must be maintained. The moment of B-cognition is the moment when the soundest judgment is made by the material examiner. And that moment frequency is something that can be trained.

07Buddhism's "self-view" and no-self -- overcoming attachment to self-image

The Buddhist tradition has most fundamentally philosophized the problem of attachment to self-image. Buddhism from the beginning anātman, ego-less-ness was established as one of its central doctrines. What Shakyamuni Buddha preached was the proposition that there is no such thing as a fixed self, and that treating it as if it does exist is the root cause of human suffering.

In Buddhist terms, there is a concept that corresponds to overconfidence. I see (ātma-dṛṣṭi) is. This refers to attachment to a fixed self-image of "this is the kind of person I am." Self-awareness is not just self-awareness, but a mental process that distorts reality in order to maintain that self-image. Ryuki's theory of the middle path, which I covered in Part 7 of this series, was a logical development of a path that goes beyond this attachment to self-centeredness.

``The root of all suffering lies in clinging to five senses (color-conception-practical-consciousness) as one's self.The fixed recognition of ``I am...'' creates a self-image that is divorced from reality, and the mental effort to maintain that self-image continues to bind people. Observing this is itself the first step to liberation.'' - Purpose from ``Anattalakkhana Sutta'' (Pali Buddhist scripture SN) 22.59)

The Buddhist implications refer to the same place as Jung-Rogers-Winnicott's self-image theory, but in different terms.The deepest root of overconfidence is attachment to self-image. Relaxing that attachment is the most fundamental way to reduce overconfidence.。これは認知的な技法 (第 8 回) と並行して、より長期的な作業として進める性質のものです。

One of the specific manners provided by the Buddhist tradition isview (vipassanā) ── This is meditation in which you observe the workings of your mind as it is. Modern research in psychology and neuroscience has demonstrated that this ancient practice increases cognitive flexibility, emotional regulation, and metacognitive abilities. In the context of materials examiners, this is directly connected to the ability to observe one's own mental movements during a judgment without evaluating them -- the foundation at the personality level of the technique of reading signs described in Part 5.

08Three questions to observe discrepancies in self-image

自己像のずれは、自分自身では見えにくい性質を持ちます。なぜなら、自己像を作っているのが自我そのものだからです。しかし、自己像の trace can be observed from the outside. As part of our practice, we would like to propose three questions. These are questions of deep psychological self-reflection and are worth having as long-term habits.

The three questions are not meant to be answered in a hurry.Continuing to ask questions itself has the effect of loosening the rigidity of your self-image.. Along with the cognitive techniques we have covered in this series (calibration, pre-mortem, observation diary), these self-reflection questions are a long-term response to the deepest roots of overconfidence.

09In the pharmaceutical field -- 4 situations where self-image supports overconfidence

Bringing abstract theory to the field. In the daily life of a materials examiner, I will identify four specific situations in which a misaligned self-image supports overconfidence. In these situations, there is resistance at the self-image level that cannot be reached using cognitive techniques (Part 8) alone.

The structure common to the four scenes isCorrection of overconfidence requires not only cognitive adjustment but also correction of self-image. That's it. All the techniques we have covered in this series can intervene superficially, but fundamental changes need to occur at the level of self-image. The next section is about putting it into practice.

104 long-term ways to improve your self-image

Adjusting your self-image is not something that can be completed in a short period of time. Unlike other techniques in this series, the one proposed here is long term habits This is the etiquette. It is in a position to serve as a bridge to the final (next) installment of this series, the etiquette for "living with overconfidence."

The common principles of the four manners are:Self-image does not change by itself. Slowly reorganized in relationships, time, and habits of reflection. That's what it means. The cognitive techniques we have covered in this series and these self-image level manners work in tandem. When both are in place, the work of reducing overconfidence becomes sustainable.

The deepest roots of overconfidence lie in a misalignment of self-image - this is the proposition we have traced in this article. Jung's persona and shadow, ego expansion, Rogers' self-concordance - the distance between the ideal self and the real self, Winnicott's false self and true self, Maslow's B-cognition, Buddhism's self-view and no-self - six perspectives have pointed to the same place using different words.Overconfidence is both a cognitive distortion and a defense that supports a misaligned self-image. Therefore, cognitive techniques alone cannot completely solve the problem.。

The next episode (the 10th and final episode) will be a comprehensive review of all 10 episodes in this series.Living with overconfidence ─ Rather than complete erasure, it is an etiquette of coexistence and monitoring.. In the end, how do we live with the proposition that has been established from the beginning of this series: overconfidence cannot be completely eradicated? It's time to read Niebuhr's prayers, etiquette for long-term practice, and the first proclamation of this series in a new light.