Vedantam on the Lear Pathology

In a series of experiments, the psychologist found that people tend to believe flattery directed at them, even though they recognize such praise as fake when directed at a third party. Vonk said the error arises because people generally believe they are better than others recognize. When someone says nice things about us, this assessment "fits better" with our intuitive sense of ourselves, making flattery feel more accurate than criticism.