The why's the limit: curtailing self-enhancement with explanatory introspection.

@article{Sedikides2007TheWT,
  title={The why's the limit: curtailing self-enhancement with explanatory introspection.},
  author={Constantine Sedikides and Robert S. Horton and Aiden P. Gregg},
  journal={Journal of personality},
  year={2007},
  volume={75 4},
  pages={
          783-824
        }
}
Self-enhancement is linked to psychological gains (e.g., subjective well-being, persistence in adversity) but also to intrapersonal and interpersonal costs (e.g., excessive risk taking, antisocial behavior). Thus, constraints on self-enhancement may sometimes afford intrapersonal and interpersonal advantages. We tested whether explanatory introspection (i.e., generating reasons for why one might or might not possess personality traits) constitutes one such constraint. Experiment 1 demonstrated… 
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