self-deception
Lying to yourself
Self-deception is the act of lying to yourself—believing something you know, at some level, isn't true.
It differs from simple error because part of you recognizes the truth even as another part denies it: His confidence was pure self-deception; deep down he knew he wasn't qualified.
Self-deception often protects the ego from uncomfortable realities about one's motives, abilities, or circumstances.
Stubbornly held false belief
- fantasyImaginative mental wandering
- chimeraUnrealistic fantasy or hybrid
- fabricationDeliberately untrue statement
- figmentImagined thing, unreal
make-believe · pretense · unreality · mirage
Inventing acceptable motives afterward
- denialRefusal to accept reality
- compartmentalizationDivision into distinct sections
- doublethinkHolding contradictory beliefs simultaneously
Unconscious blocking of thoughts
- avoidanceDeliberate keeping away
- escapismHabitual mental retreat
- projectionSomething that extends outward
- suppressionForcible prevention or concealment
dissociation · numbing · displacement · sublimation · coping
Ruinous excessive confidence
- overconfidenceUnjustified certainty in oneself
- grandiosityExaggerated sense of importance
- narcissismExcessive admiration of oneself
- vanityExcessive pride in oneself
delusion
Stubbornly held false belief
- fantasyImaginative mental wandering
- chimeraUnrealistic fantasy or hybrid
- fabricationDeliberately untrue statement
figment · make-believe · pretense · unreality · mirage
rationalization
Inventing acceptable motives afterward
- denialRefusal to accept reality
- compartmentalizationDivision into distinct sections
- doublethinkHolding contradictory beliefs simultaneously
repression
Unconscious blocking of thoughts
- avoidanceDeliberate keeping away
- escapismHabitual mental retreat
- projectionSomething that extends outward
suppression · dissociation · numbing · displacement · sublimation · coping
hubris
Ruinous excessive confidence
- overconfidenceUnjustified certainty in oneself
- grandiosityExaggerated sense of importance
- narcissismExcessive admiration of oneself
inauthenticity
Lack of genuineness
- hypocrisyPretense of virtue
- identityidentity, personal identity, ego, individuality, individuation
- human flawsmistake, error, flaw, fault, failing
- human follyhubris, pride, vanity, greed, arrogance
- Misconceptionsmisconception, myth, fallacy, false belief, mistaken belief
- defense mechanismsdenial, projection, repression, suppression, displacement
- Psychological FictionCrime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov, Mrs Dalloway, The Bell Jar, Dostoevsky
self-deceptionself-awareness
Insight into one's psyche
self-knowledge · self-understanding · brutal honesty · candor · self-recognition
self-deceptionself-scrutiny
Critical examination of oneself
disillusionment · intellectual honesty · self-criticism · truth-seeking
self-deceptioninsight
Deep perceptive understanding
self-understanding · lucidity · clear-sightedness · self-perception · mindfulness
self, deception, deceive, selfless, deceptive, deceived, deceiving, deceiver, selfhood