Psyc 333 midterm 2

1990 self esteem report

all societal ills explained by epidemic of low self esteem

Methodological issues of self esteem

measuring self esteem, correlation vs causation, conflicting research and researcher bias

Measuring self esteem

is it an easy construct to look at?

correlation vs causation

issue of directionality

conflicting research

some link between aggression and high SE. are enhancement programs always beneficial?

Researcher bias

many different definitions/types of self esteem, very ambiguous results

Self esteem

success and pretensions

Pretensions

personal standards, aspirations or values people use to judge their performance in life

State vs trait

State is current feelings about self, trait is typical SE across situations

Global vs specific

Global is self worth, sepcific is self evaluation in particular areas of life

Implicit vs explicit

Implicit is unconscious evaluations of the self, explicit are conscious evaluations of self

High trait self esteem

uses confidence building strategies, strive to stand out in social situations

Low trait self esteem

use protective self presentation, seek to fit in, high rejection sensitivity

High rejection sensitivity

abstract feedback over specific feedback, self worth tied to external specific things

Changes in SE

little diff in SE before age 8, after adolecnece SE rises and peaks around 60 before declining around 70

Developmental factors to SE

Quality of home environment like parenting, cognitive stimulation, physical home environment

Self verification theory

functions to confirm whether we are aligning with how we see ourselves

Dominance theory

functions to signal dominance and status is social gropu

Terror management theory

acts as an existential buffer to death and suffering, SE measures how well we are doing this

Sociometer theory

Fundamental desire to be accepted and belong to grouped, SE as measure of our relational value

To test sociometer theory

Acceptance vs rejection in groups of 5, questionnaires with bogus feedback

Results of acceptance rejection study

Not being chosen for the group significantly lowered state self esteem whereas being excluded for random reason had no effect

how does SE respond to a wider range of feedback beyond rejection and acceptance?

sociometer sensitivity being measured. found that this is best at detecting subtle differences in treatments

Does trait self esteem also reflect people’s perceived relational value?

yes, trait SE correlates highly w peoples perception of the degree to which they are valued, acceptance and supported by others

Do people have SE that is immune to social influence?

testing social influence. found no!

Claim that high se makes people more physically attractive

No sig correlation between ratings of attractiveness and self esteem but self reported physical attractiveness was strongly related to SE

SE and academic performance

found that doing well in school led to higher self esteem the next year but high SE did not lead to performing well in school

high se improves job performance

weak positive correlations

High SE results in social sucess

superior social skills and interpersonal success exists mostly in the mind with the exception of social initiative

Social initiative

tendency to initiate interpersonal contact

Dark side to SE

troubling link between high SE and aggression, but low SE individuals are less likely to take risks and stand out

criminals and high SE

Consistent findings suggest strong relationship between assaults and ego threats, high but unstable SE reliably predicts violent offenses

Group differences and agression

Men have higher SE and more violent than women. depressed people have low SE and less violent than control

Narcissim

High SE becomes an all encompassing need, often linked to social problems

Unmitigated agency

little concern for community with emphasis on status (at any cost)

Grandiose vs Vulnerable narcissit

positive association between grandiose narcissist and explicit SE, negative association between vulnerable narcissist and explicit SE

Mixed results of high se

predicts both perpetrators of bullying and those who stand up to bullies, also least and most likely to cheat

Contingencies of self worth

people tie self esteen to sucess in specific domains, motivational trade off

People tie self esteem to success in specific domains

where they stake their self worth, academic, relational and physical domains

motivational trade off

increased drive but higher emotional vulnerability, focus on proving oneself can undermine learning and relationships

Adolescents and contingencies

study found that higher reliance on external validation predicts future depressive symptoms

Baumeister review

beneifts of high SE were initiative, feeling good, limits of high SE, potential link to violence (outcome vs antecendent)

Fragile self esteem

can be high but fluctuates, attached to contingent domains

Stable self esteem

rarely fluctates, stable low SE assc w low SCC and stable high SE assc w high SCC

Optimal self esteem

Derived from sense of authenticity, distinct from high self esteem

Non contingent self esteem

Views the self as a process not an object, self is not salient, successes and failures don’t implicate self worth

Paths to optimal self esteem

Mindfulness, flow activities, increased SCC

Self integrity

perception of self as morally good and adaptively good

psychological threat

factors in our environment that challenge self integrity

Examples of psychological threats

bad grade, fight w friend/romantic partner, medical condition, can also result from close others behavior

Defensive reaction

any hostile negative reaction to threats to self integrity

Examples of defensive reactions

self serving bias, denial, over compensation, avoidance, aggression

Limitations and benefits of defensive reactions

can protect self integrity, gets in the way of learning from challenges

Self affirmation theory

Self integrity is important to us thus if self integrity is threatened, we are motivated to repair it, we do this via self affirmation

Key principals of self affirmation theory (3)

repairs global self integrity, good enough instead of best overall, self integrity maintained/restored by demonstrations of integrity

Examples of demonstrations of integrity

reminders of self via positive qualities in different domains than the one threatened

Global self integrity implications

people low in self complexity are more often at risk due to lack of variability in self domains

Good enough rather than superiority

self affirmation need only foster sense of adequacy in personally valued domain

examples of self affirmations

accomplishments, reflections on strengths and values, engaging in meaningful activities

symbolic self completion

engaging in behavior that bolsters specific domain of self that was threatened

when is symbolic self completion more likely to occur?

self aspect is central to self concept, generally defensive negative behaviors

self affirmation

compensation for threats by engaging in activities that bolster global self integrity, generally occurs when self aspect threatened is not central

benefits to self affirmation

reduced defensiveness and buffering against threat

evidence for effects of self affirmations

stereotype threat in education, worldview protection/mortality salience, prejudice as reaction to self threat

stereotype threat in education

idea that individuals will adhere to negative stereotypes causes increased anxiety and therefore decreased performances in individuals which results in reduced performance of minority groups

protection of worldviews and mortality salience

individuals reminded of their own mortality are more likely to uphold cultural views and institutions, increased support for violent solutions to religions/ethnic/international conflicts

Prejudice as a reaction to self threat

threats to the self may lead people to endorse prejudicial attitudes in an attempt to restore self integrity

study on stereotype threat and minority students

how self affirmation affected latino students (vs white) in academic setting

methods for stereotype threat study

self affirmation prior to exams for 4 years, random value prior to exams for 4 years, GPA as a measure

Results for longitudinal study of white vs latino students

self affirmations increased test results of latino students (not white) and persisted for more than 2 years after experiment

Longevity of affirmation

self affirmation can create long lasting positive change by setting of positive feedback loop

prejudiced response to self threat study

providing people with other way to self affirm should reduce prejudicial attitudes

methods for prejudiced response

intelligence test with threats to self and non threat combined w corresponding feedback, second study was self affirmations or none combined with negative feedback

results of prejudice to self threats study

threats to self led to prejudicial attitude towards outgroup but when combined with self affirmations led to decrease in prejudicial attitudes

study on mortality salience

does self affirmation eliminate negative effects of mortality salience?

methods for mortality salience study

MS: questions on own death C: dental pain, one group affirmed the other did not

results of mortality salience study

terror management and affirmation effect wiped out effect of mortality salience

narrative identity defined

a persons internalized and evolving story of life

features of narrative identity

selective, biased and based on multiple contradictory stories, a work in process

Function of narrative identity

continuity and unity of self, meaning and purpose

Eric Erikson

idea that life is in 8 stages, fundamental conflict/ goal that needs to be achieved in each stage

Development due to

societal expectations and improvements in cognitive development that brings about causal coherence

Causal coherence

the ability to craft narrative wherin events are linked together, necessary for the construction of autobiographical narratives

What two social links build our narrative identity

Parents who shape narrative skills in children and as adults by talking to others

How is narrative identity studied

Life story interview with key details where overall themes were found

Overall themes

Agency, communion, redemption, contamination, coherence

Agency theme

Degree to which protagonist are able to affect change in their own lives or influence others in their environment through demonstrations of self mastery empowerment

Theme of communion

Degree to which protagonist demonstrates/experiences interpersonal connection

Theme of redemption

scenes in which bad events lead to a clearly good or emotionally positive outcome

Theme of contamination

scenes in which positive event turns bad

Theme of coherence

narratives with clear casual sequencing, thematic integrity and appropriate integration of emotional responses

Continuity and change study methods

3 year longitudinal study asked university students to recall 10 key scenes from their life on 3 diff occasions

Evidence for continuity

across 3 time points, consistent in level of narrative complexity, agency and positive emotional tone int their stories

Evidence for change

at end of study, students constructed stories that were more positive, emotionally nuanced and showed greater personal understanding compared to stories at the start

Life stories over the lifespan

Compared to younger adults, older adults tend to construct life stories that are more complex and coherent, positive and summarized

What are the implications for life stories over the lifespan

As we get older, life story becomes warmer, fuzzier and more integrated

Narrative identity

internalized and evolving life stories, tell what a persons life means in time

characteristic adaptation

characteristics that capture more socially contextualized and motivational aspects of individuality

personality traits

accounts for consistency in behavior

high neuroticism

associated with stories characterized by high negative emotions, low positive emotion and over all less growth