The poll was anonymous and was not inviting debate.
Even still, people are prone to self-deception. You may be interested in this book, which argues that self-deception is very normal. In a multitude of areas of life (from education to religion) people often tell themselves and others that they’re doing things because of reason X, when reason Y fits the evidence a lot better.
Ask yourself whether a poll asking why people appreciate modern art would provide a lot of insight into why people view modern art. Or a poll asking people why they donate to charity. At the very least, many of the replies will probably leave out one of their true motives, such as wanting to look benevolent to others in the case of charity.
It’s worse than that. “Self deception” implies that you know what the real answer is and then deceive yourself to believe otherwise. You still have to figure out what the right answer is, and while people are obviously going to be more willing to look for and accept self flattering answers, such motivated cognition isn’t necessary in order to ruin the idea of anonymous polls being fountains of truth.
If you see a lion and feel fear, it’s easy to figure out that you’re probably afraid that it’s going to eat you. If the lion is in a cage at the zoo, then seemingly no explanation works so you say “I guess I just have a[n irrational] fear of lions”.
Similarly, if you feel fear when a doctor pulls out a needle, you have to figure out why that is. “Because I don’t trust the guy with a needle” is a pretty straight forward explanation, and sorta by definition true. You’re not going to get “Because I have a fear of needles” unless the person decides that their fear can’t be justified.
Even still, people are prone to self-deception. You may be interested in this book, which argues that self-deception is very normal. In a multitude of areas of life (from education to religion) people often tell themselves and others that they’re doing things because of reason X, when reason Y fits the evidence a lot better.
Ask yourself whether a poll asking why people appreciate modern art would provide a lot of insight into why people view modern art. Or a poll asking people why they donate to charity. At the very least, many of the replies will probably leave out one of their true motives, such as wanting to look benevolent to others in the case of charity.
It’s worse than that. “Self deception” implies that you know what the real answer is and then deceive yourself to believe otherwise. You still have to figure out what the right answer is, and while people are obviously going to be more willing to look for and accept self flattering answers, such motivated cognition isn’t necessary in order to ruin the idea of anonymous polls being fountains of truth.
If you see a lion and feel fear, it’s easy to figure out that you’re probably afraid that it’s going to eat you. If the lion is in a cage at the zoo, then seemingly no explanation works so you say “I guess I just have a[n irrational] fear of lions”.
Similarly, if you feel fear when a doctor pulls out a needle, you have to figure out why that is. “Because I don’t trust the guy with a needle” is a pretty straight forward explanation, and sorta by definition true. You’re not going to get “Because I have a fear of needles” unless the person decides that their fear can’t be justified.