%PDF-1.3 % ,/fj*6*WN:0udYrB+$+Aa$"D+Nv#sRt::T3 j;2jcCPpAQoxOzeJGSC5HzZ2M.cXGwabcKHi=%GOnU^Z3ZO @&)h HR4;Wp/k^I0lF 0000008767 00000 n Epub 2018 Oct 15. Despite this evidence, we know little about protective factors for mitigating the deleterious effects of stress on problem-solving. Numerous studies demonstrate that individuals are less likely to rationalize, deny, or resist threatening information in one domain if their sense of self-integrity is affirmed in another domain. Previous research had demonstrated that African Americans experience threat and its concomitant stress, in situations in which they know that they or fellow group members could be judged in light of a negative racial stereotype. This article is about the theory in social psychology. &O7`RDr^`5`l6VLJ fWH DjD3MA ] "$3)X2H 8?cu b In the present study, we test whether a brief self-affirmation can buffer the negative impacts of chronic stress on problem-solving. Spontaneous self-affirmation is associated with psychological well This stress, in turn, can undermine performance. The social psychologist Claude Steele first proposed the theory of self-affirmation. When our self-esteem is threatened, we. Belief systems include the ideologies to which a person ascribes, such as religious or political beliefs. (2014). Affirmation of personal values buffers neuroendocrine and psychological stress responses. They then completed 30 difficult remote associate problem-solving items under time pressure in front of an evaluator. In one study investigating the effects of self-affirmation on stress response, undergraduate participants completed the Trier social stress test, a standardized laboratory paradigm used to induce stress in participants. For example, acutely stressful contexts, such as completing problem-solving tasks under negative social evaluation, have been shown to impair performance on a variety of tasks, such as anagrams and remote associate problems [2], [3]. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 38: . Sherman DK, Cohen GL (2006) The psychology of self-defense: Self-affirmation theory. Thousand Oakes: Sage Publications. A., Ickes W., Blackstone T. (1995). Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retractions. The present review highlights both connections with other disciplines and lessons for a social psychological understanding of intervention and change. [g$ ' UR$g qM7[ HD>YoEMLyoV;-E^2/'7 Notably, these effects were qualified by a significant chronic stress by self-affirmation interaction, such that self-affirmation improved problem-solving performance in underperforming chronically stressed individuals. Unlike those in a control condition, those in the self-affirmation condition did not show any changes from baseline in their levels of the stress hormone cortisol. An absolute gem that seems not to be much talked about, self-affirmation theory gives us both practical approaches to dealing with problems, and a fresh and surprising theoretical viewpoint on various issues in cognitive science. Rather, individuals are motivated to maintain global self-integrity, a general perception of their goodness, virtue, and efficacy. Self-affirmed participants had lost more weight, had lower body mass index, and smaller waist circumference than non-affirmed women. In M. P. Zanna, (Ed. 0000002498 00000 n HdMk0:`;J!F{a]Y][ E6S~W~$o wd'?A8T xlF@$s{" I"_aj/]mzr# ";`!|AB]7zD,-NAdMB%U}KHp[ZRHy'r-38 m The Psychology of Change: Self-Affirmation and Social Psychological In. 0000003179 00000 n If individuals feel relatively positive about themselves in one domain, they are willing and able to tolerate a threat to their self-integrity in another domain. Participants who did not complete the self-affirmation condition demonstrated increased catecholamine response from baseline to their midterm exam. As a result, participants in the self-affirmation condition have an opportunity to affirm a valued self-domain or characteristic [6], [8]. The psychology of self-defense: Self-affirmation theory. Self-affirmation interventions typically have people write about core personal values. The Psychology of Change: Self-Affirmation and Social Psychological First, although we have shown in several studies that self-affirmation can reduce acute stress experiences [9][11], previous research has not tested whether self-affirmation can be protective in the context of chronic (or ongoing) stressors. Similarly, values affirmation decreased the achievement gap for college students from low socioeconomic status[16] and for women in introductory physics courses. The postulate that people are motivated to maintain self-integrity rests at the center of self-affirmation theory (Steele 1988; see also Sherman & Cohen 2006). Consistent with previous studies [28], approximately 50% of participants selected Relations with Friends and Family as their #1 ranked value. endstream endobj 218 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /FirstChar 1 /LastChar 1 /Widths [ 322 ] /Encoding 224 0 R /BaseFont /AdvTT97cacd14+20 /FontDescriptor 220 0 R /ToUnicode 217 0 R >> endobj 219 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /FirstChar 86 /LastChar 89 /Widths [ 604 0 0 822 ] /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding /BaseFont /IJNKHK+AdvP40650 /FontDescriptor 225 0 R >> endobj 220 0 obj << /Type /FontDescriptor /Ascent 0 /CapHeight 0 /Descent 0 /Flags 4 /FontBBox [ -291 -197 1343 968 ] /FontName /AdvTT97cacd14+20 /ItalicAngle 0 /StemV 0 /FontFile3 223 0 R >> endobj 221 0 obj << /Type /FontDescriptor /Ascent 687 /CapHeight 687 /Descent -209 /Flags 32 /FontBBox [ -187 -218 1062 718 ] /FontName /IJNKGH+AdvP4041A /ItalicAngle 0 /StemV 0 /CharSet (/K/g/i/s/P/H/M/t/d/Y/O/colon/E/u/l/A/k/C/Q/m/v/b/R/D/c/o/w/S/G/N/n/y/a/e\ /period/F/T/I/p/f/U/V/r/h/L) /FontFile3 232 0 R >> endobj 222 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /FirstChar 46 /LastChar 121 /Widths [ 270 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 270 0 0 0 0 0 0 718 0 718 770 666 604 770 822 385 0 718 666 989 770 822 666 822 718 604 666 770 718 0 0 718 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 500 500 437 500 437 333 500 500 270 0 552 270 770 500 500 500 0 385 385 333 500 437 666 0 500 ] /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding /BaseFont /IJNKGH+AdvP4041A /FontDescriptor 221 0 R >> endobj 223 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 205 /Subtype /Type1C >> stream The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. broad scope, and wide readership a perfect fit for your research every time. The ultimate goal of the self is to protect an image of its self-integrity, morality and adequacy. 846-851. The present study provides the first evidence that self-affirmation can protect against the deleterious effects of stress on problem-solving performance. Crossref. They are overoptimistic in their predictions of future success and are blind to their own incompetence. Self-affirmation theory proposes that individuals possess a flexible self-system, such that they can respond to threats in one domain of life by affirming self-worth in other domains. There is thus some fungibility in the sources of self-integrity. The second step in testing mediation consists of evaluating whether the mediating variable (positive affect) predicts the outcome variable (problem-solving performance) when entered simultaneously with the predictor variable (self-affirmation condition). Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. Culture, Dissonance, and Self-Affirmation - Steven J. Heine, Darrin R 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). These heart rate and mean arterial blood pressure results are in accord with our previous work showing that self-affirmation does not appreciably alter heart rate or blood pressure responses to acute stress-challenge tasks [9]. Our work suggests that self-affirmation may be a relatively easy-to-use strategy for mitigating stress and improving problem-solving performance in evaluative settings. J Pers Soc Psychol. Or does negative feedback rattle your sense of self or well-being? The ethnic composition of the sample was predominantly Caucasian (55%), followed by Asian-American (16.5%), Other (12%), African-American (9.5%), mixed-race (5.5%), and Latino/Hispanic (1.5%). PDF The Psychology of Change: Self-Affirmation and Social Psychological Multiple regression analyses tested for the effects of ethnicity (coded as white vs. all other ethnic groups) on RAT problem-solving performance. After completing individual difference measures, participants were debriefed, compensated, and excused. This research was approved by the Carnegie Mellon University Institutional Review Board. Two key questions lie at the core of my research: "Given that a problem exists, what are its underlying processes?" The psychology of change: Self-affirmation and social psychological intervention. Janine M. Dutcher, Adapted from an article published by The Berkeley Well-Being Institute. 480 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[<84EB8E7460E00C4F7DB1E7A100F88209>]/Index[445 79]/Info 444 0 R/Length 149/Prev 655244/Root 446 0 R/Size 524/Type/XRef/W[1 3 1]>>stream For full functionality of this site, please enable JavaScript. 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]. 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). Simpson " trial of the century " in the mid-1990s captured the attention of the American populace more than any other public spectacle since the kidnaping of the Lindberg baby in. This site needs JavaScript to work properly. Annual Review of Psychology, 65, 333-371, Allport, G. W., Vernon, P. E., & Lindzey, G. E. (1960). This study uses self-affirmation theory to draw predictions about the effect of Facebook profile self-presentation on two psychological outcomes: users' state self-esteem and their performance in a cognitive task. 21, pp. There are two chief methods used to self-affirm participants in experimental studies. 23:5355, Wileman, V., Farrington, K., Chilcot, J., Norton, S., Wellsted, D. M., Almond, M. K., & Armitage, C. J. Loch et al. 10 Empowering Self-Affirmations for the Family Caregiver Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73(1), 31, Schmeichel, B. J., & Martens, A. 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). [24][25] In contrast, several studies fail to detect any effect of self-affirmation on mood, suggesting self-affirmation does not operate via increases in positive mood. Moreover, the self-affirmation chronic stress interaction for the #1 ranked value was not significant (2(8)=3.03, p=.93). All participants collected urine samples for 24 hours two weeks prior to their midterm (baseline) as well as for the 24 hours prior to their midterm examination so levels their catecholamine levels could be measured. Experimental manipulations of self-affirmation: A systematic review. However, an intervention known as self-affirmation can curb these negative outcomes. The need to find order in a confusing world. 0000014641 00000 n Science. 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. A Defense Motivation Perspective - Social Psychology Second, our study suggests that self-affirmation may be effective at boosting performance in academic tasks requiring associative processing and creativity, particularly for students who experience stress on such tasks [34]. . 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). Third, we tested whether these two main effects are qualified by a chronic stress self-affirmation interaction, such that self-affirmation will improve problem-solving in chronically stressed participants, whom are likely to have impaired problem-solving, compared to participants who are low in chronic stress. This study found that self-affirmed participants from individualist cultures saw reductions in cognitive dissonance, whereas self-affirmed participants from collectivist cultures did not experience a reduction in cognitive dissonance. 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. Self-affirmation theory. From humanist psychologists like Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers to contemporary investigators examining the psychology of self-esteem, there has been a historical emphasis in psychology on the importance of peoples sense of personal regard. . Self-affirmation theory provides a framework for understanding the origins of these problems and an optimistic perspective for their resolution. Please enable it to take advantage of the complete set of features! The role of the self in physical health. Examination of how video games can also increase players' willingness to internalize important but threatening self-information suggests that while players who value video game success as part of their identity may reap benefits from video game play after a self-threat, those who do not value such success may experience more harmful effects. It will be important for future studies to consider the mechanisms linking self-affirmation with improved problem solving. Self-affirmation theory proposes that individuals are driven to protect their self-integrity. Social-psychological research, A key question about achievement motivation is how to maintain it over time and in the face of stress and adversity. PMC Having a flexible self-concept allows people to adapt in the face of threat. Moreover, chronic stress level was not associated with the number of words written in the self-affirmation essays (F(1, 72)=1.13, p=.35). 13. The Psychology of Self-Defense: Self-Affirmation Theory 8600 Rockville Pike [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. - "The Psychology of Selfdefense: SelfAffirmation Theory" Fig. 183-242. Affirmed yet unaware: exploring the role of awareness in the process of self-affirmation. [2] Promoting one's values can affirm the individual and reduce the perceived threat. 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. Benefits from self-affirmation are thought to primarily occur when the perceived threat is in an area of importance to the individual. The Psychology of Self-Defense: Self-Affirmation Theory Finally, two limitations of our study should be mentioned. The psychology of self-defense: Self-affirmation theory. Accessibility Adapted with permission. PLoS ONE, 8(5), e62593, James, G. D., Crews, D. E., & Pearson, J. Concern with weight has similar effects of stress in that it can cause psychological distress, poor eating, and weight gain. Examination of how video games can also increase players' willingness to internalize important but threatening self-information suggests that while players who value video game success as part of their identity may reap benefits from video game play after a self-threat, those who do not value such success may experience more harmful effects. [17] These findings suggest that self-affirmation can have a buffering effect on academic achievement for groups who face the most threat. Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar. The Psychology of Selfdefense: SelfAffirmation Theory. Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America. Each of us faces numerous threats to our self-worth (insults, criticism, etc.). 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. 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. 183-242). We thus selected 30 challenging RAT items ranging in difficulty from moderately to extremely difficult (the items are available in Table S1). People view themselves as able to control outcomes that they objectively cannot. Thus, when people are given an opportunity to affirm their self-integrity in an alternative domain, the rationalization effect disappears.
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