People making flattering descriptions of their relatives and loved ones were seen as biased but likeable, whereas people who did not enhance (nor denigrate) their loves ones were seen as realistic but not likeable

The Effects of Bias Perception on Trait Impressions of People Describing Themselves vs. Others. Joao Amaral. Universidade de Lisboa, PhD Thesis, 2020. https://repositorio.ul.pt/bitstream/10451/44955/1/ulfpie055745_tm.pdf

Rolf Degen's take: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf/status/1332583413526761473

Abstract: Past research has showed that people expect others to be biased, and these perceptions of bias, in some contexts, can be associated with negative impressions. A widely studied example of a biased claim is self-enhancement, where people blatantly describe themselves as better than others. The Hubris Hypothesis predicts that these people are evaluated negatively. The present research replicates this finding, but it shows the opposite pattern when these comparative appraisals are directed towards others. People making flattering descriptions of their relatives and loved ones were seen as biased but likeable, whereas people who did not enhance (nor denigrate) their loves ones were seen as realistic but not likeable. This research suggests a more nuanced version of the role of bias perception in impression formation, whereby biased appraisals are expected in certain domains, and they can inspire favorable impressions when directed towards others.

Keywords: enhancement; hubris hypothesis; bias perception; social desirability; better-thanaverage effect