In the article " 'A New Improved Me': Now Appearing Everywhere," the author, Erica Goode, reports that people tend to think of themselves as "better" when compared to others, including their past selves. Researchers believe people think this because "it makes people feel good about themselves." Much evidence points in this direction because extensive research has been done on this psychological topic. I feel that over the years I have become a better person, but this article made me think twice about that. I now see a resemblance between the way I see myself and the subjects of the studies.
Naturally, people mature over time. But in order to do so, one must have a positive self-image. This image, however, leads one to think that he is "more socially skilled, more tolerant, more polite, and less boring than they had been in the past." It makes this person assume he is better than the person of the past.
English: A panorama of a research room taken at th...
Nose of NOAA Lockheed WP-3D Orion "Hurricane Hunte...
Antarctic researchersFor example, when I was in sixth grade, I threw a fit every time I did not win in any game. I was always competitive, so obviously I did not take losing very well. I thought I had grown out of this foolishness years ago until recently I heard, "Calm down, Mark. It's just a game." The subjects of the research, like myself, assumed we became better people but in fact remained the same. Why did we assume this? This is simply because it makes us feel better about ourselves. Ironically, I feel badly about myself now because I see there has been no significant change. This proves as even more evidence for the researchers' work to be true.
"In another study, the subjects were asked to rate themselves on 10 attributes, using a scale from 0 to 10. Two months...