I found this psychological tidbit as I gathered material for last month’s series on Authentic Writing. I couldn’t find a place for it, so this short post can serve as something of an epilogue.
To be authentic, we have to know ourselves. We have to be honest about our values, thoughts, beliefs, successes, and failings.
But…are you honest?
Most of us would say yes, and I think that’s accurate. Even if we have secrets Batman couldn’t beat out of us, we know who we are inside. Writers tend to self-examine. But also, humans are adept at burying memories, denying bad thoughts, and avoiding taboo subjects.
Enter the Sackheim-Gur test. In the 1970s, psychologists Ruben Gur and Harold Sackeim developed a series of embarrassing questions intended to gauge how well people lie to themselves. In their experiment, Sackheim and Gur sought to demonstrate that humans need a certain level of self-deception to engage in specific behaviors or achieve their goals. For example, a follow-on study (Self-Deception and its Relationship to Success in Competition, Joanna Starek, 1991) found that swimmers who were better at self-deception won more often.
It’s a plausible theory. Fake it til you make it, right? A bit of self-deception could turn I can’t into I can.
Here’s the test. The questions range from mild to possibly embarrassing to taboo subjects. Can you answer them? Even the ones that make you squirm a little?
Questions:
On a scale of 1 – 7, with 7 being the strongest possible agreement:
- Have you ever felt hatred toward either of your parents?
- Do you ever feel guilty?
- Does every attractive person of the opposite sex turn you on?
- Have you ever felt like you wanted to kill somebody?
- Do you ever get angry?
- Do you ever have thoughts that you don’t want other people to know that you have?
- Do you ever feel attracted to people of the same sex?
- Have you ever made a fool of yourself?
- Are there things in your life that make you feel unhappy?
- Is it important to you that other people think highly of you?
- Would you like to know what other people think of you?
- Were your parents ever mean to you?
- Do you have any bad memories?
- Have you ever thought that your parents hated you?
- Do you have sexual fantasies?
- Have you ever been uncertain as to whether or not you are homosexual?
- Have you ever doubted your sexual adequacy?
- Have you ever enjoyed your bowel movements?
- Have you ever wanted to rape or be raped by someone?
- Have you ever thought of committing suicide in order to get back at someone?
Did any of those questions make you uncomfortable? If someone asked one in public, would you decline to answer or become evasive?
This is just an exercise, and those specific questions may not be relevant to your writing. My point is that authenticity asks us to be honest in response to tough questions, even when – or especially when – we are answering only to ourselves.
Humans are complicated. We can hate someone we are supposed to love. We can become aroused by something we should consider unappealing. We question ourselves and sometimes may not like the answers.
These questions might not trigger anything for your writing, but challenge yourself to craft and answer similar questions about yourself and your characters. The more uncomfortable you feel, the closer you are to uncovering an authentic human experience.
And I guarantee you aren’t the only person thinking it.
In the interest of full disclosure : 7 5 1 6 7 7 7 5 5 5 1 6 6 7 6 1 4 2 3 7
Know anyone who’d like my blog? Please forward today’s post! I’d love to hear from them.
Need more content? Join my mailing list!