Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • Article
  • Trends in Cognitive Sciences

Origins of the Belief in Good True Selves

By: Julian De Freitas, Mina Cikara, Igor Grossman and Rebecca Schlegel
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

Despite differences in beliefs about the self across cultures and relevant individual differences, recent evidence suggests that people universally believe in a ‘true self’ that is morally good. We propose that this belief arises from a general tendency: psychological essentialism (PE).

Keywords

Self; True Self; Psychological Essentialism; Values and Beliefs; Moral Sensibility

Citation

De Freitas, Julian, Mina Cikara, Igor Grossman, and Rebecca Schlegel. "Origins of the Belief in Good True Selves." Trends in Cognitive Sciences 21, no. 9 (September 2017): 634–636.
  • Find it at Harvard
  • Read Now

About The Author

Julian De Freitas

Marketing
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • June 2025
    • Journal of Consumer Research

    Ideation with Generative AI—In Consumer Research and Beyond

    By: Julian De Freitas, G. Nave and Stefano Puntoni
    • March 2025
    • Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

    Is Personal Identity Intransitive?

    By: J. De Freitas and L. J. Rips
    • February 2025
    • New England Journal of Medicine AI

    Disclosure, Humanizing, and Contextual Vulnerability of Generative AI Chatbots

    By: Julian De Freitas and I. Glenn Cohen
More from the Authors
  • Ideation with Generative AI—In Consumer Research and Beyond By: Julian De Freitas, G. Nave and Stefano Puntoni
  • Is Personal Identity Intransitive? By: J. De Freitas and L. J. Rips
  • Disclosure, Humanizing, and Contextual Vulnerability of Generative AI Chatbots By: Julian De Freitas and I. Glenn Cohen
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College.