{"id":12043,"date":"2022-01-31T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-31T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/self-deception-at-work\/"},"modified":"2022-11-02T05:36:04","modified_gmt":"2022-11-02T09:36:04","slug":"self-deception-at-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/self-deception-at-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Self-Deception At Work"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>People can become attached to their beliefs. When this happens, they may respond to information that challenges their views in ways that make it easier to continue believing what they want to be true. For example, someone experiencing COVID-19 symptoms after having just attended a large gathering may avoid getting tested so that it\u2019s easier to believe that they haven\u2019t contracted it.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, self-deception doesn\u2019t change what\u2019s true. Reality is the way it is independent of one\u2019s perception. This makes self-deception dangerous. For example, the individual who continues to believe they don\u2019t have COVID-19 may not get tested, self-isolate, or alert those they have recently come in contact with. As a result, they may unknowingly spread the virus and cause others to do the same. Had they avoided deceiving themselves, they would have gotten tested, discovered they had COVID-19 and followed all the health and safety protocols.<\/p>\n<p>Self-deception doesn\u2019t just occur in private or interpersonal contexts. It can also happen in corporate settings. Recruiters may overlook red flags on an applicant\u2019s resume because they have an immediate hiring need. Similarly, team leaders may ignore evidence of stress and burnout because they don\u2019t know of any strategies to manage it.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout the pandemic, organizational self-deception has become more costly. As philosophers Francesco Marchi and Albert Newen note in their recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/full\/10.1080\/09515089.2021.2019693\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">analysis<\/a> of the causes of self-deception, \u201cthis cognitive tendency is catastrophic in times of radically new challenges that require rapid changes in behavior.\u201d Whether it involves changes in return-to-work plans, vaccine mandates, or strategies for promoting mental health, leaders must remain prepared to accept and adapt to inconvenient truths.<\/p>\n<p><!--space--><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"four-questions-to-mitigate-self-deception\">Four Questions To Mitigate Self-Deception<\/h2>\n<p>It\u2019s challenging to catch oneself in the act of self-deception. This makes sense, as self-deception may not exist if it were easy to detect. With that said, self-deception isn\u2019t inevitable. By asking themselves the following four questions, leaders can become more mindful of their organizational hopes and desires and spot common self-deception strategies before they can skew the truth.<\/p>\n<p><!--space--><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"do-i-wish-it-werent-so\">Do I Wish It Weren\u2019t So?<\/h2>\n<p>The first step to avoiding self-deception is to become aware of one\u2019s motivationally anchored beliefs (i.e., beliefs that one is firmly attached to). To spot these beliefs, look out for unpleasant emotional reactions to information that challenges one\u2019s views. These feelings can serve as warning signals as they may result from a desire to hold on to a belief that no longer matches the world. By staying mindful of these experiences, employers can become more aware of what they hope isn\u2019t true.<\/p>\n<p><!--space--><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"am-i-seeking-out-evidence-to-support-my-beliefs\">Am I Seeking Out Evidence To Support My Beliefs?<\/h2>\n<p>Once a motivationally charged belief has been spotted, leaders should be on the lookout for common self-deception strategies. One way in which individuals maintain a motivationally anchored belief is by searching for evidence that supports their idea while avoiding evidence that undermines it. For example, after reading reports that a new COVID-19 variant has emerged that may delay return-to-work plans, an employer may seek sources that suggest that the variant is less dangerous or infectious while avoiding articles that say the opposite. This process is known as evidence selection.<\/p>\n<p><!--space--><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"am-i-rejecting-credible-counterevidence\">Am I Rejecting Credible Counterevidence?<\/h2>\n<p>Individuals may also attempt to deceive themselves by writing off potential counterevidence as irrelevant. For example, in the return-to-work scenario, one might tell themselves that the sources suggesting that the variant is likely to disrupt return-to-work plans lack credibility. This is known as evidence rejection.<\/p>\n<p><!--space--><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"am-i-filling-in-information-gaps-to-suit-my-beliefs\">Am I Filling In Information Gaps To Suit My Beliefs?<\/h2>\n<p>Lastly, a motivationally anchored belief may lead one to interpret ambiguous evidence as solid support for what they want to be true. For example, a leader may interpret the fact that their employees have yet to voice concerns about burnout to mean that it\u2019s not an issue in their organization, even though their silence may have other causes. This is known as evidence generation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Self-deception can cause leaders to unknowingly avoid unpleasant truths, often leading to disastrous results. Learn how to spot and avoid self-deception with four simple questions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12044,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holistic-workplace-wellness"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v20.6 (Yoast SEO v24.8.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Self-Deception At Work | Wellable<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Self-deception can cause leaders to unknowingly avoid unpleasant truths, often leading to disastrous results. Learn how to spot and avoid self-deception with four simple questions.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/self-deception-at-work\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Self-Deception At Work | Wellable\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Self-deception can cause leaders to unknowingly avoid unpleasant truths, often leading to disastrous results. Learn how to spot and avoid self-deception with four simple questions.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/self-deception-at-work\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Wellable\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/GetWellable\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-01-31T15:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-11-02T09:36:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Self%20Deception.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"651\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"501\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Wellable\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@getwellable\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@getwellable\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Wellable\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Self-Deception At Work | Wellable","description":"Self-deception can cause leaders to unknowingly avoid unpleasant truths, often leading to disastrous results. Learn how to spot and avoid self-deception with four simple questions.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/self-deception-at-work\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Self-Deception At Work | Wellable","og_description":"Self-deception can cause leaders to unknowingly avoid unpleasant truths, often leading to disastrous results. Learn how to spot and avoid self-deception with four simple questions.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/self-deception-at-work\/","og_site_name":"Wellable","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/GetWellable\/","article_published_time":"2022-01-31T15:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-11-02T09:36:04+00:00","og_image":[{"width":651,"height":501,"url":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Self Deception.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Wellable","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@getwellable","twitter_site":"@getwellable","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Wellable","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/self-deception-at-work\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/self-deception-at-work\/"},"author":{"name":"Wellable","@id":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f7c042b5403e555f4cd545a365023e71"},"headline":"Self-Deception At Work","datePublished":"2022-01-31T15:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-11-02T09:36:04+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/self-deception-at-work\/"},"wordCount":663,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/self-deception-at-work\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Self Deception.png","articleSection":["Holistic Workplace Wellness"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/self-deception-at-work\/","url":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/self-deception-at-work\/","name":"Self-Deception At Work | Wellable","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/self-deception-at-work\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/self-deception-at-work\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Self Deception.png","datePublished":"2022-01-31T15:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-11-02T09:36:04+00:00","description":"Self-deception can cause leaders to unknowingly avoid unpleasant truths, often leading to disastrous results. Learn how to spot and avoid self-deception with four simple questions.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/self-deception-at-work\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/self-deception-at-work\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/self-deception-at-work\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Self Deception.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Self Deception.png","width":651,"height":501},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/self-deception-at-work\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Self-Deception At Work"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/","name":"Wellable","description":"Latest Research &amp; News in Wellness","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/#organization","name":"Wellable","url":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/favicon-wellable.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/favicon-wellable.webp","width":155,"height":157,"caption":"Wellable"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/GetWellable\/","https:\/\/x.com\/getwellable","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/wellable-inc-\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCtTLlvZR-tKRBcb32l-rFXg"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f7c042b5403e555f4cd545a365023e71","name":"Wellable","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ef55908793ea28069cb18e15eaaf0f0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ef55908793ea28069cb18e15eaaf0f0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Wellable"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/34.168.145.72"],"url":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/author\/wellable-admin\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Self Deception.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12043\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}