Showing papers in "Self and Identity in 2011"

Self-compassion, self-regulation, and health

Abstract: Self-compassion—treating oneself with kindness, care, and concern in the face of negative life events—may promote the successful self-regulation of health-related behaviors. Self-compassion can promote self-regulation by lowering defensiveness, reducing the emotional states and self-blame that interfere with self-regulation, and increasing compliance with medical recommendations. Furthermore, because they cope better with stressful events, people high in self-compassion may be less depleted by illness and injury and, thus, have greater self-regulatory resources to devote to self-care. Framing medical problems and their treatment in ways that foster self-compassion may enhance people's ability to manage their health-related behavior and deal with medical problems.

On taming horses and strengthening riders: Recent developments in research on interventions to improve self-control in health behaviors

Abstract: This article reviews recent developments in the design of interventions to improve health behavior. Based on dual-system models we classify intervention strategies according to whether they aim at: (i) changing impulsive structures; (ii) improving the ability to self-control; or (iii) changing reflective structures. We review recent work on re-training of automatic associations, attentional biases, and automatic approach–avoidance tendencies, training of self-control and executive functioning, and taxonomic work on health behavior intervention techniques. The theoretical framework as well as the empirical evidence suggest that a combination of both established and newly developed intervention techniques may prove fruitful for future intervention programs. However, several techniques are still in their infancy and more research is needed before clear recommendations can be given.

Adolescent Self-esteem: Differences by Race/Ethnicity, Gender, and Age

Abstract: Large-scale representative surveys of 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-grade students in the United States show high self-esteem scores for all groups. African-American students score highest, Whites score slightly higher than Hispanics, and Asian Americans score lowest. Males score slightly higher than females. Multivariate controls for grades and college plans actually heighten these race/ethnic/gender differences. A truncated scoring method, designed to counter race/ethnic differences in extreme response style, reduced but did not eliminate the subgroup differences. Age differences in self-esteem are modest, with 12th graders reporting the highest scores. The findings are highly consistent across 18 annual surveys from 1991 through 2008, and self-esteem scores show little overall change during that period.

Self-concept Clarity Mediates the Relation between Stress and Subjective Well-being

Abstract: Three studies tested the extent to which self-concept clarity mediates the relation between different types of stressful life events and subjective well-being, independently of neuroticism. In Study 1 (N = 292), self-concept clarity fully mediated the relation between stress from various sources (e.g., work, social rejection) and subjective well-being. In Study 2 (N = 127), self-concept clarity partially mediated the relation between meaninglessness (i.e., perceptions of life as meaningless) and subjective well-being. In Study 3 (N = 78), self-concept clarity partially mediated the relation between self-discontinuity (i.e., perceptions of discontinuity between past and present self) and subjective well-being. Across studies, an alternative mediation model was unsupported. The findings provide an impetus for theoretical and empirical advancements in understanding how self-concept clarity may play a role in the impact of stress on subjective well-being.

Seeing the Destination but Not the Path: Effects of Socioeconomic Disadvantage on School-focused Possible Self Content and Linked Behavioral Strategies

Abstract: Low-income children perform better in school when school-focused future identities are a salient aspect of their possible self for the coming year and these school-focused future identities are linked to behavioral strategies (Oyserman et al., 2006). Hierarchical linear modeling of data from a four-state low-income neighborhood sample of eighth-graders suggests two central consequences of family and neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation on children's school-focused possible identities and strategies. First, higher neighborhood disadvantage is associated with greater salience of school in children's possible self for the coming year. Second, disadvantage clouds the path to school-success; controlling for salience of school-focused possible identities, children living in lower socioeconomic status families and boys living in more economically disadvantaged neighborhoods were less likely to have strategies to attain their school-focused possible identities. The influence of family socioeconomic status was s...

Hypocrisy, dissonance and the self-regulation processes that improve health

Abstract: This paper explores the use of hypocrisy and cognitive dissonance for motivating changes in health. Hypocrisy occurs when people publicly advocate a health behavior and are then made mindful that they have not performed the target health behavior regularly in the past. The discrepancy poses a threat to their self-integrity, which hypocrites reduce by bringing their own health attitudes and behavior into line with the standards for good health. After examining the research that supports the use of hypocrisy for changing health attitudes and behavior, we finish by discussing how hypocrisy represents a powerful strategy for engaging the self-regulation processes that improve health.

Loneliness and smoking: The costs of the desire to reconnect

Abstract: People have a fundamental need to belong, which influences self and identity regulation processes and health outcomes. Deficits in belongingness motivate people to seek out sources of renewed affiliation. What consequences might this desire for reconnection have for smoking? The current work proposes a theoretical model in which feelings of social exclusion predict higher rates of smoking, presumably out of desire to regain a sense of social belonging. To provide an initial test of this theoretical model, we show that loneliness consistently predicted higher smoking in nationally representative samples of adults (Studies 1 and 1) and late adolescents (Study 3). The effect of loneliness on smoking was strongest among people living in environments in which smoking was socially acceptable. Discussion centers on the fruitfulness of bridging perspectives on self and identity regulation processes to understand the causes of negative health behaviors.

Academic Self-concept in Black Adolescents: Do Race and Gender Stereotypes Matter?

Abstract: We examined the relation between race- and gender-group competence ratings and academic self-concept in 252 Black seventh- and eighth-graders. On average, youth reported traditional race stereotypes, whereas gender stereotypes were traditional about verbal abilities and were nontraditional regarding math/science abilities. Among boys, in-group gender and in-group race-based competence ratings (i.e. ratings of boys and Blacks) were related to math/science and verbal self-concepts. However, only gender-based ratings (i.e. ratings of girls' abilities for reading/writing) were related to girls' self-concepts. These findings suggest that the influence of race stereotypes on Black adolescents' academic self-concepts is different for girls than boys. Whereas self-relevant gender groups were associated with both Black girls' and boys' academic self-concept, race-based competence ratings were only relevant for the academic self-views of Black boys.

Self-control in Relation to Feelings of Belonging and Acceptance

Abstract: Three studies examined the impact that feelings of acceptance and belonging have on self-control abilities. Study 1 examined the relationship between self-reported selfcontrol in a broad range of day-to-day activities and perceived acceptance by family and friends; results showed a significant positive correlation between perceived acceptance and self-control. Studies 2 and 3 manipulated feelings of belonging and examined subsequent self-control on two separate tasks. Participants in the increased belonging group ate significantly fewer cookies (Study 2) and were more likely to delay gratification (Study 3) than participants in the decreased belonging group. There was no difference between the decreased belonging and control groups on delay of gratification in Study 3. The results from the present studies suggest that greater feelings of belonging and acceptance may bolster one’s ability to exert selfcontrol.

Reparative Behaviors and Self-forgiveness: Effects of a Laboratory-based Exercise

Abstract: Two studies evaluated a laboratory-based exercise designed to facilitate reparative behaviors (e.g., apology, amends) and self-forgiveness. In Study 1, all participants (undergraduates; 50 men, 37 women) did the exercise. Participants reported self-forgiveness increases that were partly maintained over two weeks. In Study 2, undergraduates (75 men, 92 women) were randomly assigned to conditions: responsibility/repair (yes/no) × self-forgiveness (yes/no). The responsibility/repair-alone condition (without self-forgiveness) increased the odds that women would offer reparative behaviors. The self-forgiveness component predicted greater self-forgiveness increases at follow-up, but only among those who actively tried to forgive themselves during the two weeks. In both studies, reparative behaviors predicted self-forgiveness increases and were more likely when offenses were recent, relationships were close, and relational repair had already begun.

A longitudinal diary study of the effects of causality orientations on exercise-related affect.

Abstract: According to self-determination theory, a tendency to view causes of a behavior as autonomous, controlled, or impersonal can influence motivation, self-regulation, and experience We propose that causality orientations for exercise may shape self-determined regulations for exercise by leading to more positive exercise-related affect, leading to greater internalization of exercise behavior and more self-determined regulations to exercise (eg, regulation on the basis of inherent interest and personally-held values) Methods: Participants (N ¼ 104) kept an online diary for four weeks documenting exercise behavior and affect experienced during exercise Exercise causality orientations were measured at baseline and exercise regulations were measured at follow-up Analyses were performed using multilevel modeling and path analysis Results: Exercise-related affect was more positive for those with higher levels of the autonomy orientation and lower levels of the impersonal orientation Exercise-related affect partially mediated the relationship between autonomy and impersonal orientations and self-determined regulations for exercise Conclusions: Affective responses to self-selected exercise were more positive for those who tend to perceive exercise opportunities as more autonomous, which in turn led to more self-determined regulations

Groups can jeopardize your health: Identifying with unhealthy groups to reduce self-uncertainty

Abstract: Adolescents often engage in behaviors posing significant risks to their health (e.g., substance abuse, sexual promiscuity). One explanation is that adolescence is a developmental phase characterized by impulsiveness and poor judgment of contingencies and risk. We present an alternative uncertainty-identity theory analysis that focuses on adolescence as a period of identity transition. Adolescents are confronted by significant uncertainty about who they are and how they should behave, and they largely turn to their peers to ground their sense of self. They engage in risky health practices because these behaviors define adolescent groups that provide a highly distinctive sense of self and identity that is validated and imbued with prestige by their peers. We asses empirical support for this analysis, and suggest factors that may protect adolescents from uncertainty-motivated identification with unhealthy groups.

Including Others in the Implicit Self: Implicit Evaluation of Significant Others

Abstract: We argue that people include significant others in their implicit self-concepts. That is, people's implicit evaluations of their significant others are related to their own self-evaluations. Data from five different samples supported this idea by demonstrating that people's implicit self-esteem is related to their implicit evaluations of their close others (both implicit self-esteem and implicit evaluations of significant others were assessed using the name-letter measure). This finding held for parent–child, romantic, and sibling relationships as well as for friendships. This finding also held controlling for people's explicit self-esteem and how much people liked letters in general. These findings suggest that people include significant others in their implicit self-concepts, which appear to be distinct representations from people's explicit beliefs. The potential implications for relationship functioning are discussed.

Fragile Self-esteem and the Interpersonal Circumplex: Are Feelings of Self-worth Associated with Interpersonal Style?

Abstract: The interpersonal content and cohesion of secure and fragile forms of self-esteem were examined across three studies using undergraduate participants. Each study focused on a single marker of fragile self-esteem: unstable self-esteem (N = 327), low implicit self-esteem (N = 288), or contingent self-esteem (N = 347). Across these three markers, self-esteem fragility was found to be strongly associated with the interpersonal styles of men but not women. Men with fragile high self-esteem were characterized by a blend of dominance and hostility, whereas other individuals with high self-esteem were characterized by a blend of dominance and nurturance. The interpersonal styles associated with true and uncertain forms of low self-esteem were diverse and ranged from hostility to nurturance. These findings suggest that secure and fragile forms of self-esteem possess significant interpersonal content and are distinguishable with regard to their interpersonal styles. Implications for the interpersonal nature of frag...

The Role of the Self in Responses to Health Communications: A Cultural Perspective.

Abstract: To the extent that cultures vary in how they shape individuals' self-construal, it is important to consider a cultural perspective to understand the role of the self in health persuasion. We review recent research that has adopted a cultural perspective on how to frame health communications to be congruent with important, culturally variant, aspects of the self. Matching features of a health message to approach vs. avoidance orientation and independent vs. interdependent self-construal can lead to greater message acceptance and health behavior change. Discussion centers on the theoretical and applied value of the self as an organizing framework for constructing persuasive health communications.

What Makes Us Feel the Best Also Makes Us Feel the Worst: The Emotional Impact of Independent and Interdependent Experiences

Abstract: Four studies examined the hypothesis that intense emotional experiences are more often centered on interdependent than independent experiences. Studies 1 and 2 demonstrated that when asked to write about emotionally intense events, participants were more likely to write about interdependent than independent experiences. Study 3 provided evidence that these effects were not due to recall effects based on mere exposure. Finally, Study 4 demonstrated that when asked to write about the most positive and negative interdependent and independent experiences of their lives and then rate their impact, participants were more likely to indicate that interdependent experiences had more emotional impact than independent experiences. Study 4 also provided evidence that the extent to which an experience fostered belonging motivations predicted the emotional impact of that event. Implications of the current research in terms of the need to belong and research on motivation and appraisal theories of emotion are discussed.

Imbuing Everyday Actions with Meaning in Response to Existential Threat

Abstract: Drawing on terror management theory and related perspectives on existential motivation, we hypothesized that people manage concerns with personal mortality by imbuing their everyday actions with abstract, self-relevant meaning. Accordingly, we found that subtle reminders of mortality led participants to view hypothetical actions at higher levels of action identification (Study 1), draw more connections between their current actions and personally significant long-term goals (Study 2), and perceive past actions as particularly influential in shaping their current self-concept (Study 3). These findings complement prior research, which has focused on the motivated defense of cultural worldviews, by showing how existential motivation shapes perceptions of even mundane personal actions.

Self-affirmation and the self-regulation of health behavior change

Abstract: This paper considers the potential impact of self-affirmation—the process of reflecting upon important personal values or strengths—on the self-regulation of health behavior change. Self-affirmation appears to promote several key processes relevant to health behavior change, including more open-minded appraisal of otherwise threatening information, higher levels of mental construal, and reductions in the likelihood of self-control failure. It also appears to increase other-directed feelings, such as love. These effects of self-affirmation may provide people with the capacity to view the “big picture” and consider how their current activities relate to their longer term interests. An assessment is provided of the potential implications of self-affirmation at key phases of the self-regulation of health-behavior, from interpreting evidence to habit formation.

Conflicts of Interest: Relational Self-construal and Decision Making in Interpersonal Contexts

Abstract: People with highly relational self-construals define themselves based on their close relationships. In two studies, these individuals were expected to be less inclined than others to view the outcomes of conflicts as only benefiting one person (i.e., a zero-sum perception). In Study 1, 294 participants completed a measure of relational self-construal, read hypothetical conflicts of interest and evaluated various courses of action. Results indicated less zero-sum perceptions among high relationals than among lows. In Study 2, 173 participants evaluated their own conflict of interest with either a close or distant other. Results revealed that high relationals evaluated the outcome positively when their decision favored a close other. These results demonstrate high relationals' tendency to integrate their interests with others.

Effect of Discrimination on Food Decisions

Abstract: This research examined effects of discrimination on food decisions. In Study 1, reflecting upon past experiences of discrimination, as compared to a neutral topic, caused an increased desire to consume unhealthy foods. In Study 2, participants received a negative evaluation from a biased or fair grader. Past experiences with discrimination moderated how people responded to the feedback. Those participants who had infrequent past experiences with discrimination were most likely to endorse unhealthy food options after receiving the biased evaluation. Those who scored high on past discrimination were unaffected by experimental condition and endorsed similar numbers of healthy and unhealthy food options after receiving the evaluative feedback. When offered an actual snack, those who accepted one were more likely to choose an unhealthy option following discrimination, regardless of past discrimination level. These results suggest that discrimination may be affecting self-regulatory capacity in regard to food c...

The Role of the Self in Smoking Initiation and Smoking Cessation: A Review and Blueprint for Research at the Intersection of Social-Cognition and Health.

Abstract: The self-concept is recognized as important to both smoking initiation and cessation. However, most of extant research has viewed the self-concept as a static, monolithic construct. It has not drawn on contemporary social-cognitive theories of the self-concept, which view the self-concept as a dynamic, multi-faceted cognitive structure that regulates behavior in context. This paper discusses a contemporary social cognitive framework that can be used to understand the role of the self-concept in smoking.

Southern Discomfort: The Effects of Stereotype Threat on the Intellectual Performance of US Southerners

Abstract: Compared to other negatively stereotyped groups, a paucity of research has examined stereotypes of US southerners. Building from past research and theory on the phenomenon of stereotype threat, the current research examined the possibility that activating negative stereotypes of people from the southern US can undermine their performance on intellectual tasks. In four studies, southern US college students took a test consisting of difficult mathematical and verbal questions. When negative stereotypes about their group were activated, performance was lower compared to conditions in which stereotypes were not made salient. In addition, performance decrements associated with stereotype activation were found to be linked with individual differences in group identification. Results showed that higher levels of identification as a southerner predicted lower levels of test performance.

Reasserting the Self: Blocking Self-verifying Behavior Triggers Compensatory Self-verification

Abstract: Previous research has demonstrated that when people receive self-discrepant feedback from their interaction partners, they respond by engaging in compensatory self-verification. We sought to extend this work by determining if merely preventing people from behaving in a self-verifying manner would trigger compensatory self-verification. Consistent with this possibility, when deprived of the opportunity to demonstrate their assertiveness, participants who perceived themselves as assertive subsequently compensated by displaying increased assertiveness in a subsequent interaction. In addition, self-perceived unassertive participants reported negative affect when forced to act in an assertive manner. Evidence that these effects were predicted by a measure of identity but not a measure of behavioral propensity diminished the plausibility of rival accounts such as ego depletion. We conclude that compensatory self-verification emerges even when people's self-views are indirectly challenged by depriving them of th...

Self-presentation in Everyday Life: Effort, Closeness, and Satisfaction

Abstract: The present study examined how effort put forth during self-presentations is related to satisfaction with the interaction and relationship partner depending on the closeness of the partner to the individual. Individuals responded to Palm Pilot computers when they experienced an interaction over the course of four days. Following each interaction, participants rated the self-presentational effort they put forth, closeness to the interaction partner, and their interaction satisfaction. They also identified their relationship satisfaction for frequent interaction partners. Results of multilevel models revealed that effort was positively related to relationship satisfaction when participants were not very close to the partner, but was negatively related to relationship satisfaction when closeness to the partner was high. Effort was also less strongly related to satisfaction with the interaction when participants were closer to their interaction partner. The results reveal the importance of reduced effort towa...

Same-sex Sexuality and Adolescent Psychological Well-being: The Influence of Sexual Orientation, Early Reports of Same-sex Attraction, and Gender

Abstract: Emerging research has shown that those of sexual-minority (SM) status (i.e., those exhibiting same-sex sexuality) report lower levels of psychological well-being. This study aimed to assess whether this relation is largely in place by the onset of adolescence, as it is for other social statuses, or whether it continues to emerge over the adolescent years, a period when SM youth face numerous challenges. Moreover, the moderating influence of sexual orientation (identification), early (versus later) reports of same-sex attractions, and gender were also examined. Using data from Add Health, multiple-group latent growth curve analyses were conducted to examine growth patterns in depressive affect and self-esteem. Results suggested that psychological well-being disparities between SM and non-SM were generally in place by early adolescence. For many, the remainder of adolescence was a recovery period when disparities narrowed over time. Early and stable reporting of same-sex attractions was associated with a gr...

Memory and Self-knowledge in Young Adults with ADHD

Abstract: Memory for items encoded self-referentially was examined in college students with Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In Study 1, memory was assessed using the standard self-reference effect (SRE) paradigm—which requires participants to access semantic trait self-knowledge to perform self-referential encoding (e.g., Klein, 2004). ADHD and control groups produced virtually identical SRE profiles: (a) better recall following self-referential encoding than following either semantic or structural encoding; and (b) greater-than-chance clustering in recall of words encoded self-referentially. In Study 2 the self-referential task was altered—its performance required access to personal events in episodic memory (e.g., Klein, Loftus, & Burton, 1989). The ADHD group differed from controls in two ways: (a) they recalled significantly fewer words in the self-referential condition; and (b) their clustering of words encoded self-referentially failed to exceed chance levels. These results suggest the ADHD p...

Can You Help Me Become the “Me” I Want to Be? The Role of Goal Pursuit in Friendship Formation

Abstract: Individuals' relationships often provide pathways to self-change. One pathway involves individuals using others to help them pursue important, self-relevant goals. Past research has demonstrated that individuals prefer existing friends who can help them pursue important goals. The current research expands upon these findings in two studies by demonstrating the role that goal pursuit plays in friendship formation. The current work demonstrates that individuals prefer, largely without their own awareness, to approach potential friends that can help them achieve their goals over those who cannot. The findings also demonstrated that simply expressing the preference for potential friends who could help them achieve their goals predicted individuals feeling that they were subjectively closer to their desired self than they had been previously.

Social Comparison as a Self-regulatory Measuring Stick

Abstract: How do individuals assess the magnitude of their self-discrepancies? In this research, we suggest that social comparison operates as a self-regulatory measuring stick that helps individuals assess where they stand relative to self-standards (ideal, ought, and feared selves), and contributes to the experience of discrepancy-related emotions Study 1 revealed that individuals high in social comparison orientation (SCO) report ideal and ought self-discrepancies larger in magnitude than those low in SCO Study 2, which examined upward and downward comparison tendencies separately, demonstrated that chronic upward comparison predicts ideal and ought self-discrepancy magnitudes, whereas downward comparison predicts feared self-discrepancy magnitude Both studies indicate that social comparison tendencies are associated with the experience of agitation, dejection, contentment and cheerfulness

Empowering the Self: Using the Terror Management Health Model to Promote Breast Self-Examination

Abstract: According to the terror management health model, when thoughts of death are non-consciously activated, health decisions should be influenced by identity-relevant motivations. Therefore, in this context, framing a health behavior as a tool to empower the self should increase intentions to engage in the behavior and enhanced feelings of empowerment after doing so. In Study 1, women for whom death thoughts were more accessible responded to an empowerment frame with increased breast self-exam intentions relative to women for whom death thoughts were less accessible. In Study 2, priming death led to increased empowerment feelings after conducting an exam framed as empowering. Discussion focuses on empowerment as a health promotion tool in contexts likely to activate non-conscious death thoughts.

Indirectly Measured Self-esteem Predicts Gaze Avoidance

Abstract: Can gaze behavior be predicted by direct and indirect measures of self-esteem, and, if so, does an indirect measure of self-esteem predict gaze behavior over and above a direct measure of self-esteem? Two different affective priming tasks were developed as indirect measures of self-esteem. Facial pictures or participants' first name were used as primes. Scores on a self-esteem questionnaire, as a measure of direct self-esteem, failed to predict gaze avoidance and gaze duration. However, the size of the affective priming effect with one's first name as the prime successfully predicted gaze avoidance, over and above direct self-esteem. Higher indirect self-esteem was associated with reduced breaking of eye contact whereas lower indirect self-esteem was associated with breaking eye contact more frequently.