Know thyself, urged Socrates. But do you? Or are there others who know you better than you know yourself? Answer the following and find out
Q1. On a scale of 1 (not at all) to 7 (completely), to what extent would you say you’re fair when dealing with others? Now, without revealing your answer, ask a friend, family member or partner to answer on your behalf.
Q2. Using the same scale, to what extent would you say you are honest when dealing with others? Again, without revealing your answer, ask a friend, family member or partner to answer on your behalf.
For Q2 (honesty) you should trust your own answer. Honesty is difficult for others to evaluate. Every time you lie and get away with it, the other person thinks you’re honest. But for Q1 (fairness) you should trust the other person’s answer. We all like to think of ourselves as fair, our own opinions are rather self-serving. Consequently, traits such as fairness, which can be defined reasonably objectively, are best judged by others.
These were the conclusions of a study which gave participants the opportunity to demonstrate their (un)fairness (by distributing money) or (dis)honesty (by telling the truth or lying about their performance). Objective honesty was predicted perfectly well by the participants’ own ratings. Objective fairness was best predicted by combining participants’ ratings and those given by their nearest and dearest.
Are You Smarter Than a Chimpanzee? by Ben Ambridge is published by Profile Books, £12.99. To order a copy for £11.04, go to bookshop.theguardian.com
