The genius effect: Evidence for a nonmotivational interpretation

The genius effect refers to the tendency for people to exaggerate the abili ty of (a:) a person who outperforms them and (b) a person whom they outperf orm. It has been argued by the researchers who first demonstrated this phen omenon that it is motivational in nature. In the present article we suggest that the genius effect is not an attempt on the part of individuals to pro tect or enhance their self-esteem, as proposed by Alicke, LoSchiavo, Zerbst , and Zhang (1997), but is instead due to the pervasive tendency of individ uals to use the self as a standard of comparison in their dispassionate jud gments of others. A pilot study and two experiments are reported that provi de supportive evidence for this alternative, nonmotivational account, (C) 2 001 Academic Press.