Called self-deception often is public pretense designed to head off social reproof

Evidence

Haight (1980) argues that in much of what is called self-deception, individuals are aware of the reality they are trying to deny, but they create the public appearance that they naively misjudged what was going on. Others are thus left uncertain about how to judge and treat persons who seem sincerely to have misled themselves. The public pretense is designed to head off social reproof. When people are caught up in the same moral predicament, the result may be a lot of collective pretense. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 706

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes Erving Goffman’s presentation-of-self and impression management — the audience-facing function of ‘self-deception.’ — connects to: One can defend a public image with no authentic self behind it — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 403; De facto segregation was often de jure in effect, hidden by self-deception; Self-deception about our own limits, not deliberate lying, drives overconfidence. — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 114