AIM Framework glossary
Self-Model Inversion
Canonical definition
Self-Model Inversion is the automatic cognitive operation by which an Individual's self-model (their understanding of who they are and what they value) generates contrast categories that become available as templates for interpreting others, such that if the self-model includes trait X (e.g., "honest," "hardworking," "genuinely interested"), then not-X (e.g., "dishonest," "lazy," "status-seeking") becomes a cognitively available template deployable to explain others' behaviour.
Explanation
Self-Model Inversion explains why Individuals readily perceive in others the inverse of traits they attribute to themselves, even when the perception is inaccurate. The contrast category is cognitively cheap, it requires minimal inference because it is simply the inverse of a self-attributed trait. When the Individual observes behaviour that deviates from their self-model, the contrast template is immediately accessible as an explanation. Critically, these templates are available whether or not they accurately describe the Individual. If the Individual's self-model is confabulated, if they mistakenly believe they are Intrinsically motivated when in fact they are Mimetically driven, the contrast template ("Others are status-seeking") remains available and will be deployed to explain others' behaviour, even though the Individual themselves is status-seeking. Self-Model Inversion is one of two primary pathways through which templates become available for Projection; the other is Guilt-Priming.
Epistemic status
Framework-Specific Construct.