Stavrova, O., & Ehlebracht, D. (2019).
Personality & social psychology bulletin, 45(2),
254–269.
Abstract
Cynicism refers to a negative appraisal of human nature-a belief that self-interest is the ultimate motive guiding human behavior. We explored laypersons' beliefs about cynicism and competence and to what extent these beliefs correspond to reality. Four studies showed that laypeople tend to believe in cynical individuals' cognitive superiority. A further three studies based on the data of about 200,000 individuals from 30 countries debunked these lay beliefs as illusionary by revealing that cynical (vs. less cynical) individuals generally do worse on cognitive ability and academic competency tasks. Cross-cultural analyses showed that competent individuals held contingent attitudes and endorsed cynicism only if it was warranted in a given sociocultural environment. Less competent individuals embraced cynicism unconditionally, suggesting that-at low levels of competence-holding a cynical worldview might represent an adaptive default strategy to avoid the potential costs of falling prey to others' cunning.
Here is my summary:
This article explores the relationship between cynicism and competence. The authors find that people tend to believe that cynical people are more intelligent and competent than others. However, they also find that this belief is not supported by evidence. In fact, cynical people tend to perform worse on cognitive ability and academic competency tasks.
The authors suggest that the belief that cynical people are more intelligent and competent may be due to a number of factors, including:
- The fact that cynical people are often seen as being more realistic and worldly.
- The fact that cynical people are often more confident and assertive.
- The fact that cynical people are often more successful in certain professions, such as law and business.
However, the authors argue that these factors do not necessarily mean that cynical people are more intelligent or competent. In fact, they suggest that cynicism may actually be a sign of low intelligence and competence.
