Showing papers in "Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin in 2001"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the construct validity of two global self-esteem measures, the Single-Item Self-Esteem Scale (SISE) and the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSE), and found that the SISE had strong convergent validity for men and women, for different ethnic groups, and for both college students and community members.
Abstract: Four studies examined the construct validity of two global self-esteem measures. In Studies 1 through 3, the Single-Item Self-Esteem Scale (SISE) and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE) showed strong convergent validity for men and women, for different ethnic groups, and for both college students and community members. The SISE and the RSE had nearly identical correlations with a wide range of criterion measures, including domain-specific self-evaluations, self-evaluative biases, social desirability, personality, psychological and physical health, peer ratings of group behavior, academic outcomes, and demographic variables. Study 4 showed that the SISE had only moderate convergent validity in a sample of children. Overall, the findings support the reliability and validity of the SISE and suggest it can provide a practical alternative to the RSE in adult samples. More generally, the findings contribute to the research literature by further elaborating the nomological network of global self-esteem.
2,493 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors studied employees of state-owned companies in Bulgaria, a country that has traditionally had a central-planning economy, a totalitarian political system, and collectivist values.
Abstract: Past studies in U.S. work organizations have supported a model derived from self-determination theory in which autonomy-supportive work climates predict satisfaction of the intrinsic needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness, which in turn predict task motivation and psychological adjustment on the job. To test this model cross-culturally, the authors studied employees of state-owned companies in Bulgaria, a country that has traditionally had a central-planning economy, a totalitarian political system, and collectivist values. A sample from a privately owned American corporation was used for comparison purposes. Results using structural equation modeling suggested that the model fit the data from each country, that the constructs were equivalent across countries, and that some paths of the structural model fit equivalently for the two countries but that county moderated the other paths.
1,609 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a variation on Pennebaker's writing paradigm, a sample of 81 undergraduates wrote about one of four topics for 20 minutes each day for four consecutive days and found that writing about life goals was significantly less upsetting than writing about trauma and was associated with a significant increase in subjective well-being.
Abstract: In a variation on Pennebaker’s writing paradigm, a sample of 81 undergraduates wrote about one of four topics for 20 minutes each day for 4 consecutive days. Participants were randomly assigned to write about their most traumatic life event, their best possible future self, both of these topics, or a nonemotional control topic. Mood was measured before and after writing and health center data for illness were obtained with participant consent. Three weeks later, measures of subjective well-being were obtained. Writing about life goals was significantly less upsetting than writing about trauma and was associated with a significant increase in subjective well-being. Five months after writing, a significant interaction emerged such that writing about trauma, one’s best possible self, or both were associated with decreased illness compared with controls. Results indicate that writing about self-regulatory topics can be associated with the same health benefits as writing about trauma.
682 citations
TL;DR: This article found that redemption sequences in life narrative accounts were positively associated with self-report measures of psychological well-being, whereas contamination sequences predicted low levels of wellbeing among midlife adults.
Abstract: Midlife adults (age 35 to 65) and college undergraduates provided lengthy, open-ended narrative accounts of personally meaningful episodes from the past, such as life-story high points, low points, turning points, and earliest memories. The oral (adult) and written (student) narratives were coded for redemption and contamination imagery. In the midlife sample, adults scoring high on self-report measures of generativity showed significantly higher levels of redemption and lower levels of contamination sequences. In both samples, redemption sequences in life narrative accounts were positively associated with self-report measures of psychological well-being, whereas contamination sequences predicted low levels of well-being among midlife adults. In addition, redemption sequence scores were a stronger predictor of well-being than were ratings of the overall affective quality of life-narrative accounts. The results are discussed with respect to the empirical literature of benefit-finding in the face of adversi...
681 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the shortcomings of ordinary least squares analyses are described, and the use of multilevel random coefficient modeling is discussed in detail, as well as the specifics of formulating an optimal model.
Abstract: Increasingly, social and personality psychologists are conducting studies in which data are collected simultaneously at multiple levels, with hypotheses concerning effects that involve multiple levels of analysis. In studies of naturally occurring social interaction, data describing people and their social interactions are collected simultaneously. This article discuses how to analyze such data using random coefficient modeling. Analyzing data describing day-to-day social interaction is used to illustrate the analysis of event-contingent data (when specific events trigger or organize data collection), and analyzing data describing reactions to daily events is used to illustrate the analysis of interval-contingent data (when data are collected at intervals). Different analytic strategies are presented, the shortcomings of ordinary least squares analyses are described, and the use of multilevel random coefficient modeling is discussed in detail. Different modeling techniques, the specifics of formulating an...
627 citations
TL;DR: This paper found that vengefulness at baseline was negatively related to change in forgiving throughout an 8-week follow-up and was negatively associated with Agreeableness and positively associated with Neuroticism.
Abstract: Because forgiveness theory has tended to neglect the role of dispositional factors, the authors present novel theorizing about the nature of vengefulness (the disposition to seek revenge following interpersonal offenses) and its relationship to forgiveness and other variables. In Study 1, vengefulness was correlated cross-sectionally with (a) less forgiving, (b) greater rumination about the offense, (c) higher negative affectivity, and (d) lower life satisfaction. Vengefulness at baseline was negatively related to change in forgiving throughout an 8-week follow-up. In Study 2, vengefulness was negatively associated with Agreeableness and positively associated with Neuroticism. Measures of the Big Five personality factors explained 30% of the variance in vengefulness.
578 citations
TL;DR: Inclusion of Ingroup in the Self (IISIIS) as discussed by the authors measures the degree to which the ingroup is included in the self and introduces the IIS measure to reflect this conceptualization.
Abstract: This article presents a basic conceptualization of ingroup identification as the degree to which the ingroup is included in the self and introduces the Inclusion of Ingroup in the Self (IIS) measure to reflect this conceptualization. Using responses from samples of women and ethnic minority groups, four studies demonstrate the utility of this conceptualization of ingroup identification and provide support for the IIS. Results from these studies establish construct validity, concurrent and discriminant validity, and high degrees of test-retest reliability for the IIS. Reaction time evidence also is provided, supporting the use of the IIS as a measure of ingroup identification. Particular strengths of this conceptualization of ingroup identification and potential uses for the IIS are discussed.
517 citations
TL;DR: This paper found that negative social costs accompany attributions to discrimination and that stigmatized people may avoid claims of discrimination because such attributions are costly in terms of perceived control over outcomes and social self-esteem.
Abstract: Recent research indicates that stigmatized people may avoid claims of discrimination because such attributions are costly in terms of perceived control over outcomes and social self-esteem. The authors hypothesized that minimization of discrimination also occurs in part because negative social costs accompany attributions to discrimination. In Experiment 1, an African American who attributed a failing test grade to discrimination was perceived as a complainer and was less favorably evaluated in general than was an African American who attributed his failure to the quality of his test answers. This overall devaluation occurred regardless of the objective likelihood that discrimination occurred. Experiment 2 replicated these findings and revealed that this devaluation generally occurred only when the target made discrimination attributions, not when he made other external attributions. The social costs of making attributions to discrimination may prevent stigmatized people from confronting the discriminatio...
452 citations
TL;DR: This paper investigated the relationship between ethnic identity and the personal-group discrimination discrepancy (PGD) among ethnic minority and white respondents and found that high-identified minorities reported increased personal vulnerability to discrimination and less personal group discrimination, whereas less identified minorities conformed more to the PGD phenomenon.
Abstract: Two studies investigate the association between ethnic identity and perceptions of prejudice. Study 1 examined the relationship between ethnic identity and the personal-group discrimination discrepancy (PGD) among ethnic minority and White respondents. High-identified minorities reported increased personal vulnerability to discrimination and less PGD, whereas less-identified minorities conformed more to the PGD phenomenon. Whites also reported more personal than group discrimination, but ethnic identity did not moderate this effect. Study 2 examined minorities’ perceptions of prejudice in an interaction with a White confederate, who displayed either obvious or subtle prejudice. High-identified minorities showed stronger reactions to subtle prejudice than did low-identified minorities, who tended to overlook subtle prejudice. The authors relate findings to principles from stigma research, social identity, and self-categorization theory and suggest that ethnic identity can explain why some minorities percei...
441 citations
TL;DR: In this article, two studies involving people with body piercings tested the hypothesis that perceived discrimination increases group identification and demonstrated the importance of group identification for both the meaning of group membership and its consequences for well-being among members of disadvantaged groups.
Abstract: Two studies involving people with body piercings tested the hypothesis that perceived discrimination increases group identification. In Study 1, group identification mediated the positive relationship between perceived discrimination and attempts to differentiate the ingroup from the mainstream. In Study 2, perceived discrimination against people with body piercings was manipulated and was found to increase group identification. Support was found for the prediction that group identification mediates the relation-ship between perceptions of discrimination and collective self-esteem. Results demonstrate the importance of group identification for both the meaning of group membership and its consequences for well-being among members of disadvantaged groups.
420 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined hypotheses derived from a Social Identity model of Deindividuation Effects (SIDE) as applied to social influence in computer-mediated communication (CMC) in groups.
Abstract: Two studies examined hypotheses derived from a Social Identity model of Deindividuation Effects (SIDE) as applied to social influence in computer-mediated communication (CMC) in groups. This model predicts that anonymity can increase social influence if a common group identity is salient. In a first study, group members were primed with a certain type of social behavior (efficiency vs. prosocial norms). Consistent with the model, anonymous groups displayed prime-consistent behavior in their task solutions, whereas identifiable groups did not. This suggests that the primed norm took root in anonymous groups to a greater extent than in identifiable groups. A second study replicated this effect and showed that nonprimed group members conformed to the behavior of primed members, but only when anonymous, suggesting that the primed norm was socially transmitted within the group. Implications for social influence in small groups are discussed.
TL;DR: The authors explored the relationship between past behavior, personality traits, intentions, and behavior, and found that the effect of conscientiousness on intention was partially mediated by cognitions and conscientiousness.
Abstract: Two studies explored the relationship between past behavior, personality traits, intentions, and behavior. Study 1 (N = 181) considered intentions to engage in goal-directed activity (health protection). Cognitions specified by the Theory of Planned Behavior were examined as mediators of the relationship between past behavior, personality, and intentions. The effect of conscientiousness on intention was partially mediated by cognitions, whereas the effect of past behavior was partially mediated by cognitions and conscientiousness. Study 2 (N = 123) examined predictions of intentions and self-reported behavior in relation to both health protection and exercise, a more specific behavior. In both cases, the effect of conscientiousness on intention was totally mediated, whereas the effect on behavior was partially mediated. Similarly, the effects of past behavior on intentions were totally mediated, whereas the effects on behavior were partially mediated by cognitions and conscientiousness. Thus, combining pe...
TL;DR: The authors found that women perform better than men on an empathic accuracy task (inferring the thoughts and feelings of a target person) and that women's advantage held only when women were given a task assessing their feelings of sympathy toward the target prior to performing the empathic task.
Abstract: Two studies of college students investigated the conditions under which women perform better than men on an empathic accuracy task (inferring the thoughts and feelings of a target person). The first study demonstrated that women’s advantage held only when women were given a task assessing their feelings of sympathy toward the target prior to performing the empathic accuracy task. The second study demonstrated that payments in exchange for accuracy improved the performance of both men and women and wiped out any difference between men’s and women’s performances. Together, the results suggest that gender differences in empathic accuracy performance are the result of motivational differences and are not due to simple differences of ability between men and women.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated whether self-concepts that arise from participation in interdependent cultural contexts, in this case the selfconcepts of Japanese students, will be relatively more sensitive to situational variation.
Abstract: This study investigated whether self-concepts that arise from participation in interdependent cultural contexts, in this case the self-concepts of Japanese students, will be relatively more sensitive to situational variation than will self-concepts that arise in independent cultural contexts, in this case the self-concepts of U.S. college students. The self-concepts of 128 Japanese and 133 U.S. women were assessed in one of four distinct social situations: in a group, with a faculty member, with a peer, and alone in a research booth. Furthermore, the authors examined the hypothesis that Japanese self-concepts would differ from American self-concepts in valence, reflecting normative and desirable tendencies toward self-criticism. American and Japanese participants differed in the content, number, and range of self-descriptions. As predicted, the situation had a greater influence on the self-descriptions of the Japanese participants than on the Americans’ self-descriptions, and the self-descriptions of the ...
TL;DR: The Transgression Narrative Test of Forgivingness (TNTF) as mentioned in this paper is a five-item scenario-based scale, which measures the disposition to forgive interpersonal transgressions over time and across situations.
Abstract: Forgivingness is the disposition to forgive interpersonal transgressions over time and across situations. There is currently no acceptable measure of forgivingness for use in testing theoretical propositions. The authors describe a five-item scenario-based scale, the Transgression Narrative Test of Forgivingness (TNTF). In five studies examining 518 university students from three disparate universities, the authors assess the item and full-scale functioning of the TNTF and its concurrent and 8- week predictive validity relative to trait anger, rumination, neuroticism, agreeableness, and hostility. Test-retest reliability and stability of item locations were both good. Norms are presented by gender, ethnicity, and religious activity. The TNTF is a brief measure of forgivingness that is not theory dependent and is therefore useful in basic and intervention research from a variety of theoretical perspectives.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the effects of group-based self-categorization and stereotyping of others on group attraction within visually anonymous or video-identifiable groups communicating via computer.
Abstract: The Social Identity Model of Deindividuation Effects (SIDE) proposes that depersonalization of self and others is responsible for the effects of visual anonymity on group behavior. The authors investigated these mediating processes by assessing the effects of group-based self-categorization and stereotyping of others on group attraction within visually anonymous or video-identifiable groups communicating via computer. Structural equation modeling showed that visual anonymity increased group-based self-categorization, which directly increased attraction to the group and indirectly increased group attraction by enhancing group-based stereotyping of others. Visual anonymity had no effect on self-categorization in terms of a wider social category (nationality). Predictions derived from alternative perspectives that visual anonymity decreases group attraction by increasing impersonal task focus or by attenuating evaluation concerns were not supported.
TL;DR: The authors found that providing feedback to European American participants that others held different beliefs about African Americans than they originally estimated significantly changed the beliefs that they held about that group, and observed changes were stronger for people who were exposed to information about the opinions of ingroup rather than outgroup members and persisted when measured in an unrelated experimental session held 1 week later.
Abstract: In two experiments, the authors found that providing feedback to European American participants that others held different beliefs about African Americans than they originally estimated significantly changed the beliefs that they held about that group. The observed changes were stronger for people who were exposed to information about the opinions of ingroup rather than outgroup members and persisted when measured in an unrelated experimental session held 1 week later. The authors also found in a third experiment that providing information that others agreed with the individual’s own racial stereotypes bolstered them such that they were more resistant to subsequent change attempts. Taken together, the results suggest that learning about the racial beliefs of others has the potential to either produce or inhibit stereotype change.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present the first systematic empirical examination of the state of relationship commitment as advanced by Rusbult and her colleagues, defining the state in terms of affective, cognitive, and conative components.
Abstract: This article presents the first systematic empirical examination of the state of relationship commitment as advanced by Rusbult and her colleagues, defining the state in terms of affective, cognitive, and conative components. From this perspective, the state of commitment is seen as having three distinct components: (a) psychological attachment, (b) long-term orientation, and (c) intention to persist. Two longitudinal studies of individuals in dating relationships revealed that the three components each predict both couple functioning and eventual breakup status. Both studies also provided suggestive evidence that long-term orientation is a particularly important component of commitment in dating relationships.
TL;DR: The authors found no correlation between self-concept and gender stereotype using the contrast between potency and warmth for the implicit stereotype measure and found that participants showed a correlation between linking self to the favorable potency trait and linking own gender to that trait.
Abstract: Experiment 1 unexpectedly found sex differences in evaluative gender stereotypes (only men associated male with potency and only women associated female with warmth). Experiment 2 dramatically reduced sex differences in gender-potency judgments when measures were redesigned to avoid implying that potency was positive (the concepts, strong and weak, were represented by evaluatively matched words; e.g., destroy vs. feeble, loud vs. quiet, and mighty vs. gentle). Experiment 3 tested the hypothesis that these sex differences were in the service of self-esteem but found no correlation between own-gender-favorable stereotyping and implicit self-esteem. Rather, participants showed a correlation between linking self to the favorable potency trait and linking own gender to that trait. Experiment 4 confirmed the correlation between implicit self-concept and gender stereotype using the contrast between potency and warmth for the implicit stereotype measure. In concert, results suggest that people possess implicit ge...
TL;DR: This article examined the role of independent and interdependent goal pursuit in the subjective well-being (SWB) of Asian and European American college students and found that independent goal pursuit (i.e., goal pursuit for fun and enjoyment) increased the benefit of goal attainment on SWB among European Americans but not among Asian Americans.
Abstract: The present studies examined the role of independent and interdependent goal pursuits in the subjective well-being (SWB) of Asian and European American college students. In Study 1, the authors found that independent goal pursuit (i.e., goal pursuit for fun and enjoyment) increased the benefit of goal attainment on SWB among European Americans but not among Asian Americans. In Study 2, the authors found that interdependent goal pursuit (i.e., goal pursuit to please parents and friends) increased the benefit of goal attainment on the SWB of Asian Americans, whereas it did not increase the benefit of goal attainment on the SWB of European Americans. In Study 3, the authors found that whereas interdependent goal pursuit increased the benefit of goal attainment, independent goal pursuit did not increase the benefit of goal attainment among Japanese college students. Altogether, the present findings suggest that independent and interdependent goal pursuits result in divergent affective consequences across cultures.
TL;DR: This paper measured the strength of endorsements for ingroup leaders who varied in both their relative ingroup prototypicality and distributive intergroup fairness and found that leaders high in ingroupotypicality received strong endorsements from high identifiers regardless of the leaders' ingroup-favoring, outgroup-favorable, or fair intergroup behavior.
Abstract: This study (N = 216) measured the strength of endorsements for ingroup leaders who varied in both their relative ingroup prototypicality and distributive intergroup fairness. Leadership endorsement overall was positively related to group members’ levels of social identification and negatively related to their levels of reported self-interest. Among low identifiers, however, leaders’ distributive behavior reliably predicted endorsements, with stronger endorsements provided for distributively fair than unfair leaders. Among high identifiers, in contrast, both leaders’ distributive behavior and relative ingroup prototypicality were important. Leaders high in ingroup prototypicality received strong endorsements from high identifiers regardless of the leaders’ ingroup-favoring, outgroup-favoring, or fair intergroup behavior. Leaders low in ingroup prototypicality and who were relatively similar to the outgroup received strong endorsements from high identifiers only when the leaders made ingroup-favoring distributions. These data are interpreted within a social identity theory framework.
TL;DR: This paper proposed an Attribution-Value model of prejudice, which hypothesizes that people are prejudiced against groups that they feel have some negative attribute for which they are held responsible, and found that people with both a negative value for fatness and a tendency to hold people responsible were more anti-fat than could be predicted from cultural value and attributions alone.
Abstract: The authors propose an Attribution-Value model of prejudice, which hypothesizes that people are prejudiced against groups that they feel have some negative attribute for which they are held responsible. The structure of prejudice against fat people was compared in six nations: Australia, India, Poland, Turkey, the United States of America, and Venezuela. Both a negative cultural value for fatness and a tendency to hold people responsible predicts anti-fat prejudice. Most important, a multiplicative hypothesis was supported—people with both a negative value for fatness and a tendency to hold people responsible were more anti-fat than could be predicted from cultural value and attributions alone. These effects were more pronounced in individualist cultures. The authors develop the Attribution-Value model of prejudice that can apply to prejudice of many sorts across many cultures.
TL;DR: In this article, the role of rejection sensitivity (RS) in women's depressive reactions to rejection by a romantic partner was examined, and the results support the view that depression in high-RS women is a reaction to a loss in a valued goal domain, that is, failure to prevent rejection in an important relationship.
Abstract: It is proposed that interpersonal loss that communicates rejection increases the risk for depression specifically in individuals who not only expect rejection but are also concerned about preventing it. Accordingly, the role of rejection sensitivity (RS)—the disposition to anxiously expect, readily perceive, and overreact to rejection—in women’s depressive reactions to rejection by a romantic partner was examined. A 6-month longitudinal study of college women revealed that women high in RS compared with those who are low became more depressed when they experienced a partner-initiated breakup but not when they experienced a self-initiated or mutually initiated breakup. By contrast, RS was not associated with increased depression in response to failing to achieve an academic goal. These results support the view that depression in high-RS women is a reaction to a loss in a valued goal domain, that is, failure to prevent rejection in an important relationship.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors assess the convergence of online and simulated accounts of emotion, and conclude that vignette methodologies can play a useful role in theory construction, and that they can capture the concomitants of online experience.
Abstract: Appraisal research has relied heavily on vignette- and recall-based methodologies in theory construction; however, the validity of these methodologies in capturing the concomitants of online experience is unknown. To assess the convergence of online and simulated accounts of emotion, the authors assigned undergraduate research participants to either online or simulated conditions. Those in the online condition reported on their appraisals and emotions after viewing a series of 10 emotional slides, whereas those in the simulated condition estimated their likely reactions on the basis of short descriptions of the same slides. Despite the different information available in the two conditions, there was a surprising degree of correspondence in the reports. This convergence was seen in mean levels of appraisal and emotion but even more dramatically in the pattern of appraisal-emotion relations across slides. It is concluded that vignette methodologies can play a useful role in theory construction. In addition,...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors test the hypothesis that support for leaders is enhanced when their decisions affirm a distinct social identity that is shared with followers, and find that participants showed less support for a leader who favored ingroup members who were relatively sympathetic to an outgroup position than for one who opposed an out-group position.
Abstract: Two experiments test the hypothesis that support for leaders is enhanced when their decisions affirm a distinct social identity that is shared with followers. In Experiment 1, participants showed less support for a leader who favored ingroup members who were relatively sympathetic to an outgroup position than for one who favored ingroup members who opposed an outgroup position. This finding was replicated in Experiment 2, which also showed that this pattern extended to support for the leader’s novel plans. Although participants indicated that they supported a leader who behaved evenhandedly toward all ingroup members as much as one whose behavior was identity-affirming, they were unwilling to back up the evenhanded leader with written comments and arguments. These data suggest that leaders’ capacity to engender active followership is contingent on their ability to promote collective interests associated with a shared ingroup identity.
TL;DR: This paper assessed changes in the content, consensus, and favorableness of 10 ethnic and national stereotypes by replicating and extending the Princeton trilogy and found that most of the stereotypes became more favorable.
Abstract: Three studies assessed changes in the content, consensus, and favorableness of 10 ethnic and national stereotypes by replicating and extending the Princeton trilogy. Results indicated that throughout the past 60 years, almost all of the ethnic and national stereotypes that were examined had changed in content, and more than half had changed in consensus. Most changes in consensus reflected increases rather than decreases, suggesting that modern members of stereotyped groups may confront stereotypes more frequently than did previous members of stereotyped groups. However, the damaging effects that consensual stereotypes can have on members of these groups may be tempered by the finding that most of the stereotypes became more favorable. These results are discussed in terms of changing social roles, intergroup contact, and stereotype accuracy.
TL;DR: For instance, this article found that those with relatively less left frontal cortical activation at baseline exhibited a tendency toward a greater mere exposure effect, while persons reporting less positive affect and persons reporting more negative affect at baseline evidenced more zygomatic activity to the familiar than to the unfamiliar.
Abstract: Affective models of the mere exposure effect propose that repeated exposure to a stimulus increases the positive affect or reduces the negative affect toward the stimulus, whereas recent cognitive models propose that affect is not involved in the mere exposure effect. To test these competing predictions, participants repeatedly viewed photographs of women’s faces and then viewed these women again (familiar) and novel women (unfamiliar) while facial muscle region activity and brain activity were recorded. Familiar stimuli were rated as more likable and they evoked more zygomatic (cheek) muscle region activity than unfamiliar stimuli. Interactions with individual differences occurred. Persons reporting less positive affect and persons reporting more negative affect at baseline evidenced more zygomatic activity to the familiar than to the unfamiliar. Persons with relatively less left frontal cortical activation at baseline evidenced a tendency toward a greater mere exposure effect. These results suggest that...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine predictors of employee responses to an organizational merger and find that the negative effects of the merger were most marked for employees of the low-status premerger organization.
Abstract: Adopting an intergroup perspective, the research was designed to examine predictors of employee responses to an organizational merger. Data were collected from 465 fleet staff employed in a newly merged airline company. As predicted from social identity theory, the negative effects of the merger were most marked for employees of the low-status premerger organization. Also, as predicted, the perception of permeable intergroup boundaries in the new organization was associated positively with identification with the new organization and both job-related and person-related outcomes among employees of the low-status premerger organization but negatively with person-related outcomes among employees of the high-status premerger organization. As predicted, there was some evidence that the main and interactive effects involving status, perceived permeability, and intergroup contact on employee adjustment were mediated through strength of identification with the new organization.
TL;DR: This article found that self-esteem is more closely associated with self-relevant emotional states than with emotional states that do not directly implicate the self, and that selfesteem is most closely linked to a particular class of emotions that pertain to how people feel about themselves.
Abstract: Self-esteem has been linked to a diverse array of positive and negative affective states. The present research explored the nature of these relationships. Study 1 found that self-esteem (as measured by the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale) is more closely associated with self-relevant emotional states than with emotional states that do not directly implicate the self. Study 2 replicated these findings and found that although several personality variables predicted participant’s emotional reactions to success and failure, these effects were eliminated once self-esteem was taken into account. Study 3 found that self-esteem predicted participant’s self-relevant emotional reactions to failure but not their non-self-relevant emotional reactions. These findings provide converging evidence that self-esteem is most closely linked to a particular class of emotions that pertain to how people feel about themselves.
TL;DR: This paper found that people anticipate stronger affective reactions when they focus narrowly on an upcoming event in a manner that neglects past experience and less intense reactions when considering a set of relevant previous experiences.
Abstract: In five studies, university students predicted their affective reactions to a wide variety of positive and negative future events. In Studies 1 to 3, participants also reported the affective reactions they experienced when the target event occurred. As hypothesized, they tended to anticipate more intense reactions than they actually experienced. In Studies 3 to 5, a cognitive determinant of this “intensity bias” was examined. It was hypothesized that people anticipate stronger affective reactions when they focus narrowly on an upcoming event in a manner that neglects past experience and less intense reactions when they consider a set of relevant previous experiences. Evidence from thought-listing measures as well as an experimental manipulation of temporal focus supported this hypothesis.