Employees Who Self-Enhance Their Knowledge and Abilities May Be Poor Team Performers

Today’s best managers know that employees may not often have accurate and realistic views of themselves. Some employees may exaggerate about their own skills and abilities to themselves and to others. This self-enhancement can lead to less career success for employees, but can improve employee health and well-being. Employees who tend to enhance their own views of themselves may not perform as well on team tasks. However, employees who tend to exaggerate their own belief about themselves may perform well on tasks that they can perform by themselves.

Source: Kwan, V. S. Y., John, O. P., Robins, R. W., & Kuang, L. L. 2008. Conceptualizing and assessing self-enhancement bias: A componential approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94, 1062-1077.