Some have suggested that a sense of personal regard emerges early in the life of an infant and remains relatively stable through the lifetime. People view themselves as able to control outcomes that they objectively cannot. The research presented has . Because chronic stress is linked to physical illness, this finding also suggests that affirming the self could have positive effects on health outcomes. Threats and afrmations arise from the self's fundamental motive: to be morally and adaptively adequate, good and efcacious. The interpretation of the religious scale of the Allport-Vernon-Lindzey study of values. Explore findings indicating diversity in self-esteem in relation to culture, gender, and age. Events that threaten self-integrity arouse stress and self-protective defenses that can hamper performance and growth. To test whether there was differential task engagement in the self-affirmation and control conditions using this physiological measure, we conducted a repeated measures ANCOVA to assess change in heart rate over time between conditions (In order to run a parallel ANCOVA analyses as our primary analysis, the heart rate and mean arterial pressure analyses were run with the chronic stress variable entered as a two-level between subjects variable (low vs. high stress), as determined by median split). self-affirmation theory. 0000013317 00000 n As shown in Table 4 and noted above, approximately half the self-affirmation condition participants wrote about relations with friends and family, whereas control condition participants wrote about a heterogeneous set of values. [19], Patients with end stage renal disease participated in a study assessing the effects of self-affirmation on adherence to phosphate binders that facilitate control of phosphate levels. People have been shown to be more open to persuasive information, and less biased in their evaluations of political information and health risk warnings if they are first permitted to self-affirm in an unrelated domain, for instance, by reflecting on an important personal value. . Values are aspirations people live in accordance to, including things like living healthfully and treating others with respect. Like Steinbeck, we have wondered why some people are more resilient to the vicissitudes of life than others, that is, why their sense of worth and the psychological states that vary with it (e.g., OVERVIEW The O.J. Coping mechanisms are cognitive and behavioral approaches that we use to manage internal and external stressors. We have much to learn from ancient models of self-improvement that have survived the test of time. The cessation of rumination through self-affirmation. Prior to completing the Trier Social Stress Task, half of the participants completed a variation of values list self-affirmation task. The psychology of self-affirmation: Sustaining the integrity of the self. The self-affirmation theory posits that people have a fundamental motivation to maintain self-integrity, a perception of themselves as good, virtuous, and able to predict and control important outcomes. Self-affirmation effects on mean arterial pressure during the baseline, RAT performance, and recovery periods. We conducted six studies ( N = 9,110) to explore how shame influences financial hardship by increasing financial disengagement. The psychology of self-affirmation: Sustaining the integrity of the self. PMC [17] These findings suggest that self-affirmation can have a buffering effect on academic achievement for groups who face the most threat. The results were discussed in terms of their support for a resources theory of individual differences in resilience to self-image threats--an extension of self-affirmation theory, their implications for self-esteem functioning, and the continuing debate over self-enhancement versus self-consistency motivation. It is also worth noting that word count was not correlated with RAT problem-solving performance (r=.14, p=.23), and including word count as a covariate did not appreciably change our primary problem-solving results (word count was not further pursued as a variable of interest). To test our primary hypotheses, we conducted a multiple regression analysis with condition (self-affirmation vs. control), perceived stress over the last month, and their interaction predicting RAT score. Enhancing a brief writing intervention to combat stereotype threat among middle-school students. In one study investigating the effects of self-affirmation on stress response, undergraduate participants completed the Trier social stress test, a standardized laboratory paradigm used to induce stress in participants. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: JDC. The psychology of self-defense: Self-affirmation theory. Several prominent self-theories in social psychology emphasize either the self-as-object or the self-as-subject. The psychology of self-defense: Self-affirmation theory D.D. Self-affirmations can also help to reduce physiological and psychological stress responses. Preliminary research results suggest that self-affirmation can protect against the negative consequences of stress. 2009 Nov;97(5):745-64. doi: 10.1037/a0015451. Catecholamine levels are thought to be high when individuals are experiencing higher stress. ), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. Moreover, the self-affirmation chronic stress interaction for the #1 ranked value was not significant (2(8)=3.03, p=.93). Why Do People Believe in Conspiracy Theories? Belief systems include the ideologies to which a person ascribes, such as religious or political beliefs. (2006). Cohen, G. L., Garcia, J., Apfel, N., & Master, A. San Diego, CA: Academic . Why do people resist evidence that challenges the validity of longheld beliefs? Self-affirmation theory posits that the goal of the self is to protect ones self-image when threatened and that one way to do this is through affirmation of valued sources of self-worth [6], [7]. In M. P. Zanna, (Ed. Yet, we are often able to look past these threats and still feel good about ourselves. Research suggesting that certain illusions may be adaptive for mental health and well-being is reviewed, examining evidence that a set of interrelated positive illusionsnamely, unrealistically positive self-evaluations, exaggerated perceptions of control or mastery, and unrealistic optimismcan serve a wide variety of cognitive, affective, and social functions. hb```@( O@'c"{%I8p!Yk5Y KDB9a\kveKL9TpV27;)P#aUTf+N0# q *7CUf suP[6May"/#LeCWARDq+EB]o^&YIXE_H,6sA&{!"+k"R&t?$1F@c@K. Self-affirmation theory provides a framework for understanding the origins of these problems and an optimistic perspective for their resolution. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 38: . Participants were randomly assigned either to the self-affirmation or control condition. Self-affirmation interventions typically have people write about core personal values. David Creswell and colleagues had participants complete a self-affirmation procedure before engaging in the stressful experience of public speaking and mental arithmetic in front of a hostile audience. I believe I can find relief and recovery is possible. Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. Outline the benefits of having high self-esteem. 0000009348 00000 n The results were discussed in terms of their support for a resources theory of individual differences in resilience to self-image threats--an extension of self-affirmation theory, their implications for self-esteem functioning, and the continuing debate over self-enhancement versus self-consistency motivation. Results showed that self-affirmation improved problem-solving performance in underperforming chronically stressed individuals. Self-affirmation effects on RAT performance in low and high chronically stressed participants. Correct responses on the RAT were summed across the 30 trials to form an overall composite RAT problem-solving performance score. As shown in Figure 1, self-affirmation (compared to the control condition) improved the RAT problem solving performance of underperforming high chronic stress individuals, but had a minimal impact on the performance of participants low in chronic stress. %%EOF Performed the experiments: JMD. In the Trier Social Stress task, participants are asked to give a short speech in front of a panel of judges who do not give any comments or positive feedback to the participant. trailer << /Size 239 /Info 205 0 R /Root 214 0 R /Prev 501480 /ID[<25b6ff0975f36615fc50a5b813e1f2e2><25b6ff0975f36615fc50a5b813e1f2e2>] >> startxref 0 %%EOF 214 0 obj << /Type /Catalog /Pages 207 0 R /PageLabels 204 0 R >> endobj 237 0 obj << /S 1621 /L 1714 /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 238 0 R >> stream - "The Psychology of Selfdefense: SelfAffirmation Theory" Skip to search form Skip to main content Skip to account menu. To try it, just choose a statement that represents how you want to think. [1] Roles include responsibilities a person has, such as being a parent, friend, student, or professional. Radical acceptance is accepting what is not under our control and embracing what is happening now in a non-judgmental way. 0000008176 00000 n [3] That is, if someone perceives threat to one domain, he or she can accommodate this threat by upholding a value in another domain. 183-242). In both cases, they rated 11 values (i.e., art, business, friends/family) in order of personal importance. Following the speech, participants must complete a mental arithmetic task, in which they count backwards from 2,083 in increments of 13 while being told by the judges to go faster. Advances in experimental social psychology, 38, pp. Thus, our findings identify a potential mechanism by which a self-affirmation intervention at the beginning of a school term can improve at-risk students academic achievement, reducing achievement disparities between African Americans and European Americans and between women and men in science [12][15]. Loch et al. Similarly, the self-affirmation condition time (F(2, 64)=.13, p=.88, 2=.004) and condition time chronic stress (F(2, 64)=1.53 p=.23, 2=.05) interactions were not significant (Figure 3). Within the framework of self-affirmation theory, the authors compared levels of dissonance reduction in the free-choice paradigm between a culture typical of an independent construal of self (Canadian) and a culture typical of an interdependent construal of self (Japanese). All of these "rationalizations" actually help us continue to feel good about ourselves, so they are generally good for our well-being. Participants then completed individual difference measures, including the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale [26] to assess perceived stress over the last month (all items were summed to form a composite index of chronic stress, study =.87). Hbd`ad`ddtL) 4ONLN1462 a!CG2bX0v/b`fdH**4204p/,L(QX`hii_Z VVPZZTXZ`dacbd rRR0,E^` rD Houghton Mifflin, Hunt, R. A. Specifically, we did not observe a significant main effect for self-affirmation condition (F(1, 67)=.36 p=.55, 2=.01) or chronic stress (F(1,66)=.09, p=.77, 2=.001). The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the Explore techniques to work through sadness. We also diminish the importance of things we have failed at or things we're not very good at. Science 330:123437, Haines J, Neumark-Sztainer D, Wall M, Story M. 2007. Walking the tightrope between feeling good and being accurate: mood as a resource in processing persuasive messages. ), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol . Self-affirmation theory examines how people maintain self-integrity when this perception of the self is threatened. For some, this has been a positive experience in which the values, customs and institutions they believe in are the, A theorybased intervention known as selfaffirmation provides people with the opportunity to affirm a sense of selfintegrity, a global image of moral and adaptive adequacy, at moments of, Current Directions in Psychological Science, The question of the antecedents of prejudicial responses has a long history that includes contributions of historical, structural, cultural, and psychological factors. 0000002796 00000 n We also tested negative affect using the same approach, but there was not a significant main effect for self-affirmation condition (=.12, t(71)=1.06, p=.29) or a stress self-affirmation interaction (=.02, t(71)=.90, p=.37) on state negative affect. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The self-affirmation theory posits that people have a fundamental motivation to maintain self-integrity, a perception of themselves as good, virtuous, and able to predict and control important outcomes. &O7`RDr^`5`l6VLJ fWH DjD3MA ] "$3)X2H 8?cu b 375-397). In the present study, we test whether a brief self-affirmation can buffer the negative impacts of chronic stress on problem-solving. Notably, these effects were qualified by a significant chronic stress by self-affirmation interaction, such that self-affirmation improved problem-solving performance in underperforming chronically stressed individuals. Crossref. Self-Affirmation Theory The social psychologist Claude Steele proposed self-affirmation theory in 1988. This stress, in turn, can undermine performance. Moreover, as depicted in Figure 1, this stress buffering effect of self-affirmation improved the problem-solving performance of high stress individuals to a level comparable to individuals low in stress. Benefits from self-affirmation are thought to primarily occur when the perceived threat is in an area of importance to the individual. Previously, such effects had been viewed as evidence of a basic motivation for psychological consistency; people want to see their attitudes as consistent with their actions. (We note that the problem-solving task we used produced significant cardiovascular stress reactivity (see Figures 2 & 3), comparable to other well-known psychosocial stress-challenge tasks [35].) Accessibility Engaging in such actions when facing threat serves to remind individuals of the broad, principal values by which they define themselves and their lives. Self-integrity can take many forms. They then completed 30 difficult remote associate problem-solving items under time pressure in front of an evaluator. However, it is believed that there is not just one factor responsible for the effects of self-affirmation, but rather many. Specifically, we show that chronically stressed individuals have impaired problem-solving performance and that self-affirmation can boost problem-solving performance under pressure. Would you like email updates of new search results? Defense mechanisms will well documented in psychology, and though there are more than 15, we review 13 is to most common defense mechanisms. Specifically, we used a well-known measure of problem-solving and creativity (the Remote Associates Task (RAT)) [17][20] to test three hypotheses. Self-image resilience and dissonance: the role of affirmational resources. 0000002498 00000 n Do messages about health risks threaten the self? Some studies have observed increases in self-esteem following self-affirmation,[27] whereas other have found no effect on self-esteem. Women concerned with their weight were recruited for a study. Examples of defensive reactions include denial, avoiding the threat, and changing one's appraisal of the event in order to make it less threatening. Terror management theory (TMT) is compared with other explanations for why people need self-esteem, and a critique of the most prominent of these, sociometer theory, is provided. Introduction In major league baseball, a hitter could have a long and productive career by maintaining a .300 average, that is, by getting a base hit 30% of the time. [20], Individualist and collectivist cultures place different levels of importance on belonging to in-groups, and it is thought that this may vary the effects of self-affirmation. . HUoLg\j10PVb (M]n&eYTu~i&R\u`e-e;={ 2 5 pq B@`:DvTV##s-{JkqHm.w|M6h?! The present review highlights both connections with other disciplines and lessons for a social psychological understanding of intervention and change. The psychology of self-defense: Self-affirmation theory. We elected to use this procedure given that completing individual difference measures may have carry-over effects if completed immediately prior to self-affirmation activities [27]. Results suggest that group identification plays a role in whether people use an avoidance or challenge strategy in coping with collective threat and implications for theories of social identity and stigmatization are discussed. It is important to note that the task used in the present study (RAT) is a common measure of creativity performance and insight [18], [33], and hence our study suggests that self-affirmation may increase creativity and insight in stressed individuals [16], [34]. Despite this evidence, we know little about protective factors for mitigating the deleterious effects of stress on problem-solving. Although this body of research provides supportive evidence indicating that acute and chronic stressors can impair problem solving, little is currently known about stress management approaches for mitigating the effects of stress on problem solving. These self-affirmations can involve family, friends, volunteer work, religion, art and music, or other activities that are central to how we see ourselves (Sherman & Cohen, 2006). 0000002988 00000 n After completing the performance task, the evaluator left the room and the experimenter re-entered and indicated that the participant was to rest quietly (5 minute recovery period). Previous studies indicate that positive affect boosts problem-solving performance [29], [30], so we tested the possibility that the self-affirmation activity was a positive affect induction, and that positive affect engendered by self-affirmation explained the problem-solving effects. [3] For example, self-integrity can take the form of being independent, intelligent, a helpful member of a society, part of a family, and/or part of a group. There is thus some fungibility in the sources of self-integrity. There are four main principles of self-affirmation theory. The authors found reduced cognitive dissonance for participants from collectivist cultures who wrote about values important to them and their families, and found reduced cognitive dissonance for participants from individualist cultures who wrote about a value important to just them.[22]. [13] Seventh grade students took part in a two-year study. Ethnic minority students in the self-affirmation condition received higher grade point averages than the ethnic minority students who wrote about why their least important value might be important to someone else. This second analysis revealed that positive affect was not a significant predictor of RAT performance when it was entered as a simultaneous predictor variable with the self-affirmation condition variable (=.07, t(71)=.54, p=.59). Although people are certainly capable of realism and self-criticism, ego-defensiveness nevertheless seems to be a pervasive human penchant. Obesity 15:274860, Logel C, Cohen GL. These examples show how we try to maintain our self-esteem when its broken down. However, an intervention known as self-affirmation can curb these negative outcomes. Rumination is when people cannot stop fixating on a particular thought. MeSH Steele, CM (1988) The psychology of self-affirmation: . [3] One study investigated the effects of self-affirmation on reducing cognitive dissonance. Steele purported that the self is made up of different domains: roles, values, and belief systems. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. Indeed, these protective adaptations may lead to rationalizations and even distortions of reality. Self-affirmation theory suggests that when individuals face threat to one of these domains, they are motivated to maintain a positive global image of themselves. The evaluator provided veridical verbal performance feedback (incorrect, correct) after each response and recorded each response. Self-affirmation theory asserts that the overall goal of the self-system is to protect an image of its self-integrity, of its moral and adaptive adequacy. AYrmation of personal values buVers neuroendocrine, By clicking accept or continuing to use the site, you agree to the terms outlined in our, The Psychology of Selfdefense: SelfAffirmation Theory. People led to commit an action espousing a position with which they disagree (for example, students who write in favor of tuition increases) subsequently come to agree with the position when they believe that their actions were freely chosen. [g$ ' UR$g qM7[ HD>YoEMLyoV;-E^2/'7 Before To reduce potential confounding effects, we administered these measures at the end of the experimental session because previous studies indicate that completing individual difference measures at the beginning of an experimental session may act as an affirmation manipulation (i.e., they have carry-over effects) [27]. And why do they persist in maladaptive behavior even when persuasive information or personal experience recommends, Journal of personality and social psychology. There was also no interaction between self-affirmation condition and chronic stress level on number of words written (F(1,72)=1.30, p=.26). San Diego, CA: Academic Press. PLoS ONE, 8(5), e62593, James, G. D., Crews, D. E., & Pearson, J. Self-affirmation theory also illuminates the way in which prejudice and stereotyping are forms of self-integrity maintenance. 846-851. Semantic Scholar's . When we do this, it helps us realize that our self-worth is not contingent on whatever negative feedback we just got (Sherman & Cohen, 2006).
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