self

Personality and Individual Differences 51 (2011) 845–849

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The association between self-deception and moral self-concept as functions of self-consciousness
Hui Jing Lu, Lei Chang ⇑
Department of Educational Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 27 March 2011
Received in revised form 9 July 2011
Accepted 13 July 2011
Available online 6 August 2011
Keywords:
Self-deception
Morality
Self-consciousness
Helping intention

a b s t r a c t
Regulated by self-consciousness, self-deception is a part of the self-system that suppresses negative aspects of the self and maintains a positive moral self-concept. We tested this evolutionary hypothesis on 166 college students by measuring self-deception using both a questionnaire and a series of hypothetical helping scenarios. The results showed a positive correlation between self-deception and moral selfconcept, which was moderated by private self-consciousness. Among participants with high, but not low, self-consciousness, high moral self-concept individuals were more willing to help when potential selfbenefits were present than low moral self-concept individuals, whereas there was no difference between the two groups concerning helping without self-benefit. These results support the evolutionary view that self-deception serves to maintain optimal moral self-concept, especially for individuals with high selfconsciousness.
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1. Introduction
Humans are social animals who pursue selfish interests in a cooperative context in which public interests are also observed.
There are subsequent conflicts between pursuing self-interests and protecting public interests. Solving and balancing these conflicts has resulted in specific adaptations to group living. On the one hand, various group-oriented socialization

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