and informsbanks,creditcompanies,andotherinstitutionsaboutavictim’spossibleidentitytheft.
DespitetheavailabilityofservicessuchasITAC,thebestdefenseforconsumersistohaveknowl-edgeandawarenessofidentitytheft.Consumersshouldalsobeawareof their rights inorder toprotectthemselvesandtotaketheproperactionstowardeliminating fraudulent information fromtheircreditreports.
TrangdaiGlassey-TranguyenStanfordUniversity
See Also: Anderson,Anna(Anastasia);Bush,GeorgeW.;Internet:E-MailScams.
Further ReadingsCarnegieMellonUniversity.“MySecureCyberspace:
IdeologyIdeologycanbedefinedastwointerrelatedcon-cept at an individual anda social level.First, itrepresentsasetofbeliefsthatanindividualholdsto maintain one’s identity and goals, especially
goalsrelatedtoone’sgroupmembership.Second,ideologyisasetofbeliefsthatasocietyreinforcestoitsmemberstomaximizecontroloverthesta-tusquowithminimalconflict.Lyinganddecep-tionplaya roleherewhenan individualand/orasocietyattemptstoupholdthesesetsofbeliefs.Thefirstconceptisrelatedtohowanindividualdeceivesoneself,whereas the latter is related tohowasocietydeceivesitsmembers.
Self-deception based on the first definition ofideologyisexercisedthroughcognitivecontrolofindividuals,bothattheperceptualandconceptuallevelsofsocialjudgments.Massdeceptionbasedontheseconddefinitionof ideologyisexercisedbysymbolsandculturalpracticesorientingpeo-ple’sunderstandinginsuchawaythattheyacceptthe current way of doing things. Psychologistsadvanceknowledgeaboutrelationshipsbetweenideology and self-deception, while sociologistsdevelopunderstandingabouttheinterconnected-nessofideologyandmassdeception.
Self-Deception: Ideology as a Perceptual Filter Toward the Social WorldSelf-deception based on one’s ideological biascan be found from basic perceptual judgmentsto sophisticated higher order reasoning. Recentresearchincognitivepsychologyseesideologicalbiasasafailureof informationprocessing.Thisbias consists of stereotyped reasoning in whichnewinformationisdistortedinordertomakeitconform to existingbeliefs. People are far fromthe detached information processors that nor-mative models of human judgments would pre-scribe.Thetermboundedrationalitymeansthatpeople are prone to systematic predictable cog-nitivebiases.Peoplearepronetosystematicandpredictableerrorsinmakingjudgmentsanddeci-sionsbecauseofideologicallinksbetweentargetjudgmentsandthegrouptowhichthepeoplefeeltheybelong—inotherwords,revealingtheir“ide-ology-boundedrationality.”Peopleappeartobemotivatedbyvariousfactorstoreachconclusionsthatcolortheselfinafavorableposition,leavingoneimmersedinself-deception.
Group affiliation can bias people to perceivethesamestimulusdifferentlyandtodraw infer-ences that protect and promote the interests oftheir in-group,aspeoplederivetheirself-esteemin part from the meaningful groups to which
theybelong.Aclassicdemonstrationofthisself-deceptionbasedon social categorization canbefound in Albert Hastorf and Hadley Cantril’s“Theysawagame”study.Inthisstudy,althoughstudentsatDartmouthandPrincetonUniversitiesviewedthesamefilmoftheirrespectiveschool’sfootballteamsonNovember23,1951,itseemedfromtheresults that theyhadwatched twodif-ferentgames.WhileDartmouth students tendedtoseePrinceton’sruleviolationsandDartmouth’sappropriate responses,Princeton students sawacontinuingpatternofDartmouth’sroughplayandoccasionalPrincetonreprisals.Thestudentsfromthetwoschoolssawtheirsideastheheroandtheothersideasthevillain,regardlessofreality.
As mentioned above, self-deception based onone’sowndesirablestateofmind(ideology)isnotonlyfoundinhigherorderreasoning,suchasthefairnessofplayinafootballgame,butcanalsobefoundinperceptual judgments.Forexample,Emily Balcetis and David Dunning found thatthirstyundergraduatesseeawaterbottleinfrontofthemlocatedcloserthanitactuallyis.Inrela-tiontopoliticalideology,EugeneCarusoandhiscolleagues have demonstrated that during the2008presidentialcampaign,DemocratsperceivedthefaceofBarackObamatobelighter,whereasstrong Republicans tended to see Obama’s skintoneasdarkerthandidliberals.Visualrepresen-tations of the candidate fit coherently with thedesiretoseeone’sowngroupmemberspositively.
Thisself-deceptionisnotonlythecaseforcom-petitive contexts such as sports or politics. In astudybyJonathonSchuldtandNorbertSchwarz,peoplewhoidentifiedthemselvesascaringmoreabout proenvironmental values thought Oreocookies made with organic flour and sugar hadfewercalories thannormalOreocookies.Obvi-ously,however,thetwoproductsinactualitycon-tainthesamenumberofcalories.
Contrary to the truism “seeing is believing,”what actually happens is that “believing is see-ing.”Peopleseewhattheywanttoseeorseehowtheywanttosee.Self-deceptionbasedonideologygoeswellbeyondvisualperceptionorconceptualjudgmentsbasedonvisualrepresentation.Emerg-ingworks inmotivated social cognition suggestthat this perceptual distortion can happen inhearing,tasting,andevensmelling.Forexample,organic and/or fair-trade chocolate tastes better
Self-deception as a consequence of ideologyproduces a variety of social psychological by-productsaswell.Ideologicalbiascanleadpeopletopluralisticignorance—anerroneousperceptionof the relationship between one’s own opinionsandthoseofthemajority.Misreadingpublicopin-ionconsistentwithone’sownopinion,anindivid-ualisactuallyinthemajoritybutfalselybelieveshe or she is in the minority. This self-deceptionofopinionclimatebecauseofone’sideologycanalso happen the other way around, producingfalseconsensus.Falseconsensusistheinaccurateperceptionthatother’sbeliefsaresimilartoone’sownbelief,whentheyarenotsimilarinreality.
Taking a step forward, false consensus alsoincludes seeing one’s judgments and behavioral
A customer contemplates her selections in a chocolate shop in Zurich, March 2010. Research in motivated social cognition suggest that perceptual distortion can occur in the senses. For example, supporters of organic and/or fair-trade chocolate report that their ideologically supported chocolate tastes better.
decisions as more socially desirable and com-monly accepted, while considering alternativesas inadequateanddeviant.Projectingone’sownideology (beliefs and values) in seeing other’ssocial judgments leadspeopletoholdtheseself-deceptionsaboutgeneralizedothers inasociety.Thecasesofpluralistic ignoranceandfalsecon-sensusarewellwitnessedinAmericanhistory.Forexample,aseriesofstudies inthe1970s—whenthe racial conflict was at its peak in the UnitedStates—reported that while college studentsoverestimated the support foraffirmativeactiononcampus,peopledepictedmostCaucasiansasbeingagainstracialequalityintheircommunities.
Mass Deception: Ideology as Construction in the Service of PowerMassdeceptionbasedonasociety’sneedtomain-tain the pre-existing order goes back to Greekmythology.Mythsprovideanswersandexplana-tionsforeverydayquestions.However,mythsarenotnecessarily truebut actually aremoreoftenfictionalstoriescreatedinordertomaintainorderin society.Among JosephCampbell’s four func-tionsofmyth—themystical(awe-inspiring),cos-mological(describingthenatureoftheuniverse),sociological (supporting or validating certainsocialorders),andpedagogical(providingmodelsforliving)functions—therelevanceofmythherepertainstothelattertwo,nottheformertwo.
In the modern era myth gives way to ideol-ogy.KarlMarxandFriedrichEngelsemploythegenerictermideologyinordertoexplainhowcul-turesarestructuredinwaysthatenableagroupinasocietytomaintaincontrol.Ideologydoesnotnecessarilyreferonlytoaprocessinwhichgroupsdeliberatelyplantooppresspeopleoraltertheirunderstanding about how their interpretationsof the social world should be. Ideology can bemorebroadlydefinedasanyattempttonaturalizesocialpracticesthathaveadeephistoricalorigin.
Dominantsocialclassesorinstitutionsinsoci-etyusesymbolsystemsandsocialentitiessuchasvalues and attitudes in such a way as to legiti-mizethecurrentstate,order,orpowerstructuresandmakethemseem“natural.”Forexample,anargument like“menarebetter atmathand sci-ence, whereas women are better at languages”canbeastrategicefforttonaturalizeallegeddif-ferences between women and men, naturalizing
thesuperiorityofonegender.Thehistoricalrootsof social expectations about men and womenaredeletedhere,andwhatisleftisanhistoricalstereotype of gender roles. This is also the caseforracism. Itendorsessocialpractices reflectingthebelief thathumanbeingscanbecategorizedintodistinctbiologicalgroupscalledrace,whichassign a certain group of people with specific“natural”attributes.
In contemporary society, ideology permeatesthe general public as mass deception throughvariouschannels.Oneof thoseoutlets inwhichindividuals can easily find ideology is popularculture,suchassoapoperas,movies,andpopu-larmusic.Forexample,themovieIndependenceDay,whichhadahugebox-officesuccess,depictsa war against the aliens from outer space withnaturalizing racial differences through action-packed spectacle and computer graphics. In themovie, the threemain characters—thepresidentofUnitedStates,ascientist,andasoldier—strug-gleagainst theattackingaliens.Here, thepresi-dent who takes charge in the war against thealiens isplayedbyawhiteCaucasianactor; thescientistwhouseshisbraintoattackthealiensisdepictedasJewish;andthesoldierwhoisshownin most of the physical engagements (hand-to-handfighting)against thealiens isplayedbyanAfricanAmericanactor.Therolesplayedbythesethree characters/actors reiterate cultural stereo-typesaboutraceandethnicity,strengtheningthisideologytoitsaudiencemembers.
In addition to media content, various socialinstitutionsplayasignificantroleinmoldingcog-nitive and affective interpretations of the socialworldconsistentwith ideologies.LouisAlthusserdubbed these social institutions, such as schools,churches,andevenfamilies,the“ideologicalstateapparatus.”AccordingtoAntonioGramsci,theseinstitutionscombinedwithculturalpractices,suchasliteratureandmediaentertainment,toprovidehegemony(legitimacy)tocertainideas(ideologies).
Historically,ideologyhasbeenafocalpointofcriticism.Thefirst criticof ideologywasNapo-leon Bonaparte. Specifically, he criticized the“ideologues,” meaning a group of theorists atthe time that provided arguments based on thehumanneedforself-servingillusionasopposedtotheneedforpoliticalreality.Atfirst,thecriticismwasmainly about adetachmentof theory from
What is interesting about ideology as massdeceptionisthefactthatanideologycanbecalledoutasanideologyonlywhenitisdiscoveredasunnatural.Thisnotioncanbeexemplifiedbythepopular anecdote appearing in the movie TheMatrix.PeopleinTheMatrix(signifyingasocietywith mass deception based on ideology) do notrealize that they live in theMatrix. Ifone takesthebluepillandstaysinthestateof“ignoranceisbliss,”onecannotrealizethatoneissuccumbingtoideology.Itisonlywhenonetakestheredpillthatonecanseethebitterreality.
Criticaltheoristshavelongtriedtoidentifyide-ologies. For example, Roland Barthes analyzedtheoperationofthemassdeceptionprocessbasedonideology(socialorder)ineverydaylifewithanexampleofaphotographonthemagazinecoverofParisMatch.ThephotodisplaysayoungsoldierinaFrenchcolonialcountry.Thesoldier,wearingthemilitaryuniformofFrance,isshowngivingasaluteto theFrenchflag.On the surface, it is a youngsoldierfromaFrenchcolonialcountryinhisuni-form.Butincloseranalysis,whatthephotomeans,accordingtoBarthes,istheideologythatFranceisagreatnation;Francegivesanequalopportunitytoitscolonialpeoplewithnoracialdiscrimination.Thereasonwhyitisdifficulttocallthisoutaside-ologyisbecausepeopleoftenoverlookitsmeaningandseeitasameremagazinephoto.
ConclusionIdeology plays a significant role in both self-deception and mass deception. Although thevery definitions and mechanisms by which ide-ology works in deception vary in terms of thelevel of analysis, both psychological and socio-logicalapproachestotheroleofideologyinself-andmassdeceptionrevealacrucialimplication:Deceptionbasedonideologycanchangehumanhistory.Thereasonwhypeopleshouldpayatten-tion to and reflect on their own ideology withconstantvigilancelieshere.
SungjongRohJeffreyT.HancockCornellUniversity
See Also: Bok,Sissela;Internet:FacebookandSocialMediaSites;Manipulation;Movies,Lyingin;Myth;NapoleonBonaparte;Projection;Rationality;Self-Deception;Self-Justification.
Further ReadingsEagleton,T.Ideology:AnIntroduction.London:
ImpressionLikeafootprintpressedintothesand,wherethereisan impression,somethingremains inpresencebyvirtueofitsmark,asifitweretheveryessenceof the thing. Thus, there are good impressions,false impressions—frightening, awkward, andridiculous impressions—all sorts of impressionsthatpersistastracesofthepeople, locations,oreventstheyrepresent.Nothingcanpresentallfac-etsandperspectivesofitselfatonce;evenadotonapagelookscompletelydifferentunderamicro-scope.Thus,wehaveonlylimitedknowledgeofthings, only impressions to go by. As Ginsbergfamouslysaid,“America,thisistheimpressionIgetfromlookinginthetelevisionset.”
Common expressions such as “first impres-sionslast,”and“besuretomakeagoodimpres-sion” exist because where first impressions suc-ceed,theypersist,andwheretheyfail,itishardtorecoverfromthem.Forexample,Mr.DarcyofPrideandPrejudice,originallytitledFirstImpres-sions, initially seemed “the proudest, most dis-agreeablemanintheworld.”
Self-consciousnessariseswhenindividualsreal-ize that otherswill anddo form impressions of
