n. a phenomenon of personality which combines benevolence and effectiveness. A self-deceiving act, people selectively remember their previous actions as having been more generous and helpful than they actually were. It makes possible the act of recalling the past as a morally-good and successful one. First proposed by U.S. social psychologist Anthony Greenwald (1939- ). See positive illusion.
BENEFECTANCE: “For most people, benefectance has become a routine way of justifying their past as a more well-intentioned one.”