Showing papers in "Self and Identity in 2004"

A Three-Factor Model of Social Identity

Abstract: Despite the importance of the social identification construct in research and theory on group processes and intergroup relations, the issue of its dimensionality remains unresolved. It is proposed that social identity can be represented in terms of three factors: centrality; ingroup affect; and ingroup ties. I examined the efficacy of this model in five studies involving a total of 1078 respondents, one nonstudent sample, and three group memberships (university, gender, and nationality). Results of confirmatory factor analyses support the acceptability of the tripartite model, which fits the data significantly better than one- or two-dimensional (cognition/affect) alternatives. Correlations with theoretically relevant variables provide support for the convergent and discriminant validity of the three factors. Advantages and implications of the three-factor model are considered, with particular reference to social identity theory.

Mattering: Empirical Validation of a Social-Psychological Concept

Abstract: Mattering is the extent to which we make a difference in the world around us. People matter simply because: others attend to them (awareness), invest themselves in them (importance), or look to them for resources (reliance). We construct and validate a mattering index, using confirmatory factor analysis. We establish the discriminant validity of the mattering index, using self-consciousness, self-esteem, self-monitoring, alienation, and perceived social support. Finally, we discuss the potential importance of mattering as a dimension of the self-concept.

Empathy and the Self-Absorption Paradox II: Self-Rumination and Self-Reflection as Mediators Between Shame, Guilt, and Empathy

Abstract: The present study tested the hypothesis that proneness to shame would predict self-rumination (and personal distress) whereas proneness to guilt would predict self-reflection (and perspective taking, and empathic concern). Results supported the majority of these predictions, and revealed that self-reflection mediates the relationship between guilt and perspective taking. Additional results provided some support for the hypothesis that self-rumination mediates the relationship between shame and personal distress. However, results also revealed that shame mediated the relationship between self-rumination and personal distress, suggesting that shame and self-rumination may feed each other within a reciprocal cycle that is likely to result in a maladaptive empathic response (i.e., personal distress). Empathic concern was associated with higher levels of guilt, but results failed to replicate earlier findings demonstrating a positive relationship between empathic concern and self-reflection. The present result...

Self-construal and cooperation: Is the interdependent self more cooperative than the independent self?

Abstract: The present study examined whether a temporary activation of independent or interdependent self-construals by priming has an influence on cooperation in social dilemmas. It was expected that individuals primed with independence would be primarily concerned with their own outcomes, whereas individuals primed with interdependence would also be concerned with the outcomes of their interaction partner. The former should therefore exhibit lower levels of cooperation. Additionally, the influence of social value orientation on cooperation was measured. Participants played 32 rounds of a give-some dilemma with an alleged interaction partner. As predicted, participants primed with independence exhibited lower levels of cooperation than participants primed with interdependence. Results are discussed in terms of their significance for research on self-construals and social dilemmas.

Academic Self-concept and Educational Attainment Level: A Ten-year Longitudinal Study

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to test children's academic self-concept, family socioeconomic status, family structure (single parent vs. two parent family) and academic achievement in elementary school as predictors of children's educational attainment level in young adulthood within a ten-year longitudinal design. Participants (254 girls, 211 boys) were three cohorts of students in Grades 3, 4, and 5 from ten elementary schools. Results from structural equation modeling revealed that academic self-concept predicted educational attainment level ten years later over and above prior achievement. Moreover, this pattern of results was invariant across cohorts. In addition, regression analyses based on a restricted sample (n = 243) indicated that the academic self-concept/educational attainment level relation was still significant while controlling for family SES, family structure (single parent vs. two parent family), and academic achievement. Discussion focuses on the theoretical and practical implications o...

Feeling Controlled and Drinking Motives Among College Students: Contingent Self-Esteem as a Mediator

Abstract: This article presents an examination of college student drinking motives from a self-determination perspective. We predicted positive associations between controlled orientation (a chronic orientation toward pressures and experiencing a lack of choice in one's behaviors), and drinking as a means of regulating affect (enhancement and coping motives) and social approval (social rewards and conformity motives). Contingent self-esteem involves deriving self-worth from meeting expectations and was expected to mediate the relation between controlled orientation and drinking motives, which were in turn expected to predict alcohol consumption and related consequences. College students' (N = 204) controlled orientation, contingent self-esteem, motives for drinking, and patterns of alcohol use were assessed. Mediation analyses provided support for our theoretical framework. Results suggest that “controlled” individuals drink to regulate affect and social approval in part because they have a greater tendency to base...

The Effect of Social Disclosure on the Intensity of Affect Provoked by Autobiographical Memories

Abstract: Affect associated with negative autobiographical memories fades faster over time than affect associated with positive autobiographical memories (the fading affect bias). Data described in the present article suggest that this bias is observed when people use their own words to describe both the emotions that they originally felt in response to events in their lives and the emotions that they feel when they recall those events. The data also suggest that the fading affect bias is not a consequence of distortion in memory for the emotions experienced at event occurrence, but instead reflects current affective responses to memories for those events. Moreover, this bias has a social component. Frequently disclosed memories evince a stronger fading affect bias than less frequently disclosed memories. Memories disclosed to many types of people evince a stronger fading affect bias than memories disclosed to few types of people. Finally, the relation between social disclosure and fading affect appears to be causa...

You're Just Saying That Because I'm a Woman: Stigma Consciousness and Attributions to Discrimination

Abstract: This study adds to tests of the construct validity of stigma consciousness by asking if people high in stigma consciousness demonstrate a greater tendency than people low in stigma consciousness to make attributions to discrimination. In a study that approached this question from both an individual difference and a situational perspective, women high or low in stigma consciousness made attributions for a negative evaluation, ostensibly written by a male peer. Under control conditions, women low in trait stigma consciousness demonstrated less of a tendency to make attributions to discrimination than women high in trait stigma consciousness. When they experienced a situationally induced increase in stigma consciousness, however, participants low in trait stigma consciousness demonstrated just as great a tendency to make attributions to discrimination as their high stigma conscious counterparts. The results provide further validation for the stigma consciousness construct, and raise questions about who benef...

Self-Portraits: Possible Selves in European-American, Chilean, Japanese and Japanese-American Cultural Contexts

Abstract: Possible selves of students from European-American (EA), Chilean (CH), Japanese-American (JA), and Japanese (JN) cultural contexts were analyzed, revealing differences in the emphasis given to various content themes. EA possible selves focus on intrapersonal themes (i.e., “fear being dependent”), consistent with cultural emphases on uniqueness and independent development. In JN, JA and CH contexts, career and education themes dominate possible selves, consistent with particularly strong cultural emphasis on professional and academic accomplishments. The cultural contexts also differ in their predominant configurations of possible selves—EA and CH possible selves often show balance (expected and feared selves of similar theme but opposing valence, i.e., “expect to graduate from college” and “fear dropping out of college”) while JN and JA selves more frequently match (expected and feared selves of similar thematic content and valence, i.e., “expect to be idle” and “fear being idle”).

Culture and Context-sensitive Self: The Amount and Meaning of Context-sensitivity of Phenomenal Self Differ Across Cultures

Abstract: Self-concepts change from context to context. The experience that one's self is context-sensitive may be universal, however the amount and meaning of context-sensitive self vary across cultures. Cross-cultural differences in the amount and meaning of context-sensitive self were investigated in three Western cultures (Australia, Germany, and UK) and two East Asian cultures (Japan and Korea). The amount of context-sensitivity of self was greater in Japan than in Western cultures and Korea. The meaning of context-sensitive self also varied across cultures. In the Western cultures, a context-invariant self was seen to be clear and true; however, these patterns were not observed in the East Asian cultures. In Korea, a context-invariant self was interpreted to be exhibiting a relational self, which adheres to the ethics of care. In Japan, it was a context-sensitive self that was seen to be true, implying that the true self in Japan may mean to be true to the self-in-context, rather than the transcendental, decontextualized self. The results suggest the importance of differentiating East Asian cultures such as Japan and Korea. The utility of quantitative methods in explicating cultural meaning was highlighted.

Retrieval Selectivity in the Processing of Self-referent Information: Testing the Boundaries of Self-protection

Abstract: The mnemic neglect model (formerly the inconsistency – negativity neglect model, Sedikides & Green, 2000) contends that people recall self-referent feedback more poorly than other-referent feedback...

Stress-buffering effects of self-complexity: reduced affective spillover or self-regulatory processes?

Abstract: Stress-buffering effects of high self-complexity can be explained by two different theoretical models. According to the affective spillover model (Linville, 1985), a large number of independent self-aspects prevents a generalization of affect after negative but also after positive events. According to the self-regulatory processes model, a large number of self-aspects promotes efficient self-regulation, which is restricted to negative events. Effects of negative and positive events on subsequent changes in depression were investigated in a prospective design. Having a large number of self-aspects was found to attenuate adverse effects of negative events on depression, irrespective of the distinctness of the self-aspects. No buffering effects were observed regarding the relation between positive events and depression. The self-regulatory processes model also predicts that for people with a large number of self-aspects, an increasing number of positive experiences should be generated in response to high lev...

On Becoming What We Might Have Been: Counterfactual Thinking and Self-efficacy

Abstract: Three experiments examined the hypothesis that, in the aftermath of a performance event, upward counterfactuals reinforce feelings of self-efficacy toward similar future events, whereas downward co...

Self-esteem and the Dual Processing of Interpersonal Contingencies

Abstract: Social cognitive research has shown that individuals with low self-esteem exhibit contingency expectations involving interpersonal acceptance and rejection (e.g., If I fail, then I will be rejected). We examined whether the processing differences between low and high self-esteem individuals would be evident in their most spontaneous reactions, or only in relatively deliberate responses. A lexical decision task measured people's reaction times to positive or negative interpersonal words, following success or failure primes. The stimulus onset asynchrony was manipulated to allow spontaneous or deliberate processing. Individuals with low self-esteem exhibited contingencies at the spontaneous level. These contingencies were not evident in individuals with high self-esteem. The findings support interpersonal models of self-esteem, and confirm that controlled, deliberate thought is not required for the activation of relational expectations.

When the self stands out: Figure-ground effects on self-focused attention.

Abstract: When do people focus attention on the self? Based on Gestalt notions of figure–ground assignment, two experiments demonstrated that making self figural against a background induces self-focused attention. In Experiment 1, perceiving figural self-symbols increased self- awareness relative to perceiving background self-symbols. In Experiment 2, making self figural against the background of a 6-person decision-making group increased self-awareness. These experiments clarify the antecedents of self-awareness and connect objective self-awareness theory to research on interpersonal deviancy.

Helping New Acquaintances Make the Right Impression: Balancing Image Concerns of Others and Self

Abstract: People strategically regulate information about the identities of friends to help those friends create desired impressions on audiences. Are people willing to help acquaintances manage their impressions, and if so, are such efforts moderated by the helper's own self-presentational concerns? Participants were 234 same-sex strangers who went through a structured self-disclosure procedure designed to induce psychological closeness. They later described this partner to an opposite-sex third party who supposedly preferred either extraverts or introverts as ideal dates, and who their partner regarded as attractive and wanted to impress or as unattractive and did not care to impress. As predicted, participants described their partners consistently with the preferences of the attractive other, but only when their own self-presentational concerns about accuracy were low. If the third party was unattractive, participants whose accuracy concerns were low tended to describe their partners opposite the preferences of ...

Social Identity-Specific Collectivism (SISCOL) and Group Behavior

Abstract: Assessment of collectivism has, for the most part, targeted interpersonal (often dyadic) relationships, e.g., spouse or friend. The multifactor social identity-specific collectivism (SISCOL) scale is an alternative approach that targets groups or categories (e.g., ethnic, political). In this study, the relationship between SISCOL and reported group behavior (political action, group participation, leisure activity) was explored. First, SISCOL varied in a meaningful and predictable way as a function of group membership. Second, SISCOL subscales were divergently predictive: social identity, b=.31, and common fate, b=.18, predicted political action; social identity, b=.22, emotional attachment, b=.32, and group norms, b=.20, predicted group participation. The importance and utility of a group targeted approach is discussed.

Cognitive Demand and Self-Presentation Efforts: The Influence of Situational Importance and Interaction Goal

Abstract: The present study hypothesized that situational importance and social interaction goals influence people's self-presentation efforts and consequently their use and recall of dissembled information. Participants in an initial experimental phase were covertly videotaped conversing with a partner. During a second phase, participants completed questionnaires, created from verbatim transcripts of the interaction, which listed every statement participants made during their initial conversation. The questionnaires required participants to first indicate whether they did or did not make each statement and then to indicate the veracity of each statement. Results supported the hypothesis that self-presentation efforts (untruthful statements) and the number of unrecalled untruthful statements significantly increased during high-importance situations when the goal to make a competent impression was salient.