Why do we think we’re nicer than we actually are?
by Simon Usborne from on (#2FQV7)
A study has found that 98% of people think they're among the nicest 50%. And this delusion seeps into everything from how we rate our attractiveness to our driving
How nice are you? No, really, deep down, how nice are you? It would be easy to imagine that low self-esteem leads us to play down our better qualities, but the research shows the opposite is true - regardless of our confidence, we are not as nice as we think we are. Nor are we as attractive or competent " the list goes on. If niceness were a number, we would be guilty of some pretty extreme rounding up.
If you can take that emotional blow (you're probably still nice, just, you know, not that nice) listen to Jonathan Freeman, a psychology professor at Goldsmiths, University of London. In a study he carried out for an airline, he found that 98% of us consider ourselves to be among the nicest 50% of the population.
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