Positive illusions

Positive illusions are unrealistically favorable attitudes that people have towards themselves or to people that are close to them. Positive illusions are a form of self-deception or self-enhancement that feel good; maintain self-esteem; or avoid discomfort, at least in the short term. There are three general forms: inflated assessment of one's own abilities, unrealistic optimism about the future, and an illusion of control.^[1] The term "positive illusions" originates in a 1988 paper by Taylor and Brown.^[1] "Taylor and Brown's (1988) model of mental health maintains that certain positive illusions are highly prevalent in normal thought and predictive of criteria traditionally associated with mental health."^[2]

There are controversies about the extent to which people reliably demonstrate positive illusions, as well as whether these illusions are beneficial to the people who have them.^[1][3][4][5]