It’s well known that we’re generally pretty awful judges of our own character, with the illusory superiority bias nicely spearing any attempts at accurate self-reflection.

A recent study highlights how this weakness is particularly pronounced when we’re in the company of others.  The study, which was published in Neuron found that the group we’re in can have a different impact upon how we perceive our abilities depending upon the context the group is in.

Cooperative versus competitive

The study found that if we’re in the company of more talented peers and the situation is cooperative, it tends to make us over-estimate our own abilities.  When the situation is more competitive however, it has the opposite impact and makes us under-estimate just how good we are.

“We found that although people estimated their abilities on the basis of their own performance in a rational manner, their estimates of themselves were partly merged with the performance of others,” the authors say. “The findings potentially have implications for social interactions in the workplace as well as clinical disorders such as depression.”

Of course, whilst our poor sense of self-perception is often said in something of a jokey manner, understanding our personal talents is a key part of modern life.

“Our behavioral findings match well with what people experience in their workplace,” the authors say. “They might feel better or worse about themselves depending on how well the group they are working with is doing, or they might feel worse about themselves when facing a strong competitor.”

All in the brain

When participants had their brains scanned, it revealed activity in two key areas of the frontal cortex when we’re estimating the talents both of ourselves and others.  The perigenual anterior cingulate cortex seemed to influence perceptions of our own abilities as activity levels fluctuated according to personal performance.

The dorsomedial frontal area however seemed more in tune with the performances of others, with this information then integrated with the estimation we have of our own ability.  There was a particularly high level of activity in area 9, which the authors suggest was down to how our self-perceptions changed as a result of engaging with others.  Previous studies have suggested this area is a key part of our social encounters, and the study suggests that it is key for forming our status in a social network.

“Learning about oneself and others is not only important for humans,” the researchers say. “For example, choices to attack or retreat are vital for many animals and these choices can be based on how strong you think you yourself and another competitor are. In a way, when you think about dominance hierarchies in animals, for them it is very important to know about the value of themselves and others in that hierarchy. In humans, social hierarchies exist but they are less pervasive and depend on quickly changing social reference groups, for example, within one’s family, or at work, or in a sports team.”

Their next step is to further test the theory in clinical populations to see if area 9 activity could be altered in those suffering from conditions such as depression.  It will be an interesting study to follow.