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Showing papers in "Self and Identity in 2014"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors investigated self-compassion as a mediator of the relationship between trait procrastination and stress and found that lower levels of selfcompassion may explain some of the stress experienced by procrastinators.
Abstract: Although previous research has demonstrated that procrastinators experience high levels of stress, less is known about why procrastination is linked to stress. This study is the first to investigate self-compassion as a mediator of the relationship between trait procrastination and stress. Across four samples (145 undergraduates, 339 undergraduates, 190 undergraduates, and 94 community adults) trait procrastination was associated with lower levels of self-compassion and higher levels of stress. A meta-analysis of these effects revealed a moderate negative association of procrastination with self-compassion. In all four samples, self-compassion mediated the relationship between stress and procrastination. These findings suggest that lower levels of self-compassion may explain some of the stress experienced by procrastinators and interventions that promote self-compassion could therefore be beneficial for these individuals.

187 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the hypothesis that self-compassion for negative appearance-related events and perceived body flaws would predict healthier eating behavior in college-age women and found that participants who responded to a perceived body flaw in a selfcompassionate way were significantly lower in subsequent self-reported body shame and anticipated disordered eating.
Abstract: Negative body image and disordered eating are pervasive problems among young girls and women in American society. In a daily diary study and a lab-based assessment, we examined the hypothesis that self-compassion for negative appearance-related events and perceived body flaws would predict healthier eating behavior in college-age women. Results of Study 1 indicated that on days when participants reported higher levels of appearance-related self-compassion, they also reported lower levels of disordered eating. Results of Study 2 indicated that participants who responded to a perceived body flaw in a self-compassionate way were significantly lower in subsequent self-reported body shame and anticipated disordered eating. Among those participants who exhibited restrained eating in a lab-based assessment, participants higher in self-compassion also reported lower weight-gain concern and self- punishment motives for their eating behavior. Body shame mediated the relationship between self-compassion and two meas...

99 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a multi-component model of ingroup disidentification is introduced, which distinguishes three dis-identification components (detachment, dissatisfaction, and dissimilarity).
Abstract: This research introduces a multi-component model of ingroup disidentification that distinguishes three disidentification components (detachment, dissatisfaction, and dissimilarity). In Studies 1a (N = 168) and 1b (N = 215), the authors developed a measurement scale that assesses these components, and examined alternative factorial structures. Study 2 (N = 115) provides evidence that the disidentification scale performs better at distinguishing between disidentification and nonidentification than an established identification scale. Using additional data from Studies 1b and 2, Studies 3a and 3b examined emotions and behavioral intentions as correlates of disidentification and revealed that the disidentification components predict negative ingroup-directed behavioral intentions (active harm, passive harm, and passive facilitation) and identity concealment over and above measures of identification. Theoretical implications for research on social stigma and social change are discussed.

80 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the effect of experimentally induced nostalgia on growth-oriented self-perceptions and behavioral intentions was examined, and it was shown that nostalgia increased growth outcomes indirectly by increasing positive emotion.
Abstract: Prior research shows that the experience of nostalgia—a sentimental longing for the past—serves to buffer self-threat. Complementing this work, the current research assessed the possibility that nostalgia promotes psychological growth—that is, the potential to cultivate inner potentialities, seek out optimal challenges, and integrate new experiences into the self-concept. Two studies tested the effect of experimentally induced nostalgia on growth-oriented self-perceptions and behavioral intentions. To examine whether this effect reflects growth in particular, we built on Fredrickson’s (1998, 2001) claim that positive emotion is the prime mechanism underlying growth-promoting experiences. As predicted, nostalgia increased growth outcomes indirectly by increasing positive emotion (Study 1). Study 2 explored which specific psychological resource provided by nostalgia accounts for its positive effect on growth. Prior literature suggested three candidate mediators: belongingness, meaning in life, and positive self-regard. Nostalgia increased all three, but only positive self-regard mediated nostalgia’s effect on growth outcomes.

71 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article found that self-compassionate writing significantly predicted improved mood more so than writing in an emotionally expressive way, while greater rumination inhibited the degree to which mood improvements were made after writing, while trait selfcompassion significantly predicted mood improvements.
Abstract: Self-compassion and rumination have been conceptualized as emotion regulation strategies, the former effective and the latter maladaptive, however, the relationship between these two approaches is largely unknown. This relationship was explored in 186 participants who completed a negative mood induction, and were randomly allocated to write about a negative event in either a self-compassionate or emotionally expressive way. Results showed that self-compassionate writing significantly predicted improved mood more so than writing in an emotionally expressive way. Greater rumination inhibited the degree to which mood improvements were made after writing, while trait self-compassion significantly predicted mood improvements. The present findings suggest that interventions to increase self-compassion can be therapeutically beneficial.

69 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors examined the role of self-compassion in freshmen students' goal pursuit and well-being across the first year of university and found that selfcompassion was associated with positive changes in life satisfaction, identity development and decreases in negative affectivity over the academic year.
Abstract: We examined the role of self-compassion in freshmen students’ goal pursuit and well-being across the first year of university. Multilevel analyses of 1 week of daily diary assessment revealed that individuals high in self-compassion appeared to be less vulnerable to the affective consequences of thwarted goal progress. We also found that trait self-compassion moderated the relation of autonomous goal motivation to negative affect, such that autonomous motivation was especially related to low negative affect for students high in self-compassion. Longitudinally, we found that self-compassion was associated with positive changes in life satisfaction, identity development, and decreases in negative affectivity over the academic year. In summary, we suggest that selfcompassion is an adaptive trait for new college students.

67 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined whether positive personality features of optimism, hope, and happiness were associated with the levels of psychological distress (i.e., perceived stress, depressive symptoms, and anxiety), functional impairment, and self-esteem reported by 217 freshman university students in Israel during the course of their first semester.
Abstract: The transition to college has often been treated as a period that creates considerable stress in the lives of students and it has been found to increase their distress and lower their self-esteem. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether the positive personality features of optimism, hope, and happiness were associated with the levels of psychological distress (i.e., perceived stress, depressive symptoms, and anxiety), functional impairment, and self-esteem reported by 217 freshman university students in Israel during the course of their first semester. A three-wave longitudinal study was used to examine whether positive personality features measured during the first week of the semester (Time-1) were associated with subsequent assessments of psychological distress, functional impairment, and self-esteem that took place during the third (Time-2) and fifteenth weeks (Time-3) of the semester. Results indicated a significant increase in distress symptoms and functional impairment during the co...

54 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper examined whether cognitive overlap with the character and self-expansion occur as a result of exposure to fictional characters and found that cognitive overlap increases to the extent the character represents one's actual self-guide.
Abstract: The prevalence of entertainment media in everyday life might offer unexpected social opportunities The present paper examined whether cognitive overlap with the character and self-expansion occur as a result of exposure to fictional characters Results of two studies indicated that transportation into a narrative leads to greater cognitive overlap with the character and perceived self-expansion Providing a distinction between these two concepts, we found that cognitive overlap with the character increases to the extent the character represents one's actual self-guide; perceived self-expansion increases to the extent the character represents one's ideal self-guide Together, these findings illustrate the nature of parasocial relationships and impact of entertainment media on the self

49 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Kraus et al. as mentioned in this paper tested whether activating a significant-other representation would lead people to engage in behaviors designed to obtain self-verification, namely, presenting themselves in a selfverifying manner to others.
Abstract: When a significant-other representation is activated, the goal to be known and understood by others—that is, self-verified—is automatically elicited, leading people to desire appraisals from others that verify their pre-existing relational self-conceptions (Kraus & Chen, 2009). The present study tested whether activating a significant-other representation would lead people to engage in behaviors designed to obtain self-verification—namely, presenting themselves in a self-verifying manner to others. Relative to their self-descriptions for a control website, when presenting themselves on a website focused on significant-other relationships participants were more likely to describe themselves in a manner consistent with how they had previously described their relational self. Moreover, participants’ self-descriptions for the significant-other website, relative to the control website, were rated higher in honesty and authenticity by independent judges. Long-term consequences of pursuing self-verification goal...

47 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors found that a latent honor variable predicted personalizing national threats and defensive responses to illegal immigration and terrorism, mediated by respondents' identification with the nation, and the second was mediated sequentially by national identification and the resultant tendency to personalize national threats.
Abstract: Honor endorsement might predict an intertwining of personal and national identities that facilitates taking country-level threats personally. If true, this could help explain why honor endorsement predicts support for defensive reactions to national provocations. In a sample of US college students (Study 1) and adults (Study 2), a latent honor variable predicted (1) personalizing national threats, and (2) defensive responses to illegal immigration and terrorism. The first of these associations was mediated by respondents' identification with the nation, and the second was mediated sequentially by national identification and the resultant tendency to personalize national threats. Together, these results highlight a mechanism by which the honor–national-defensiveness association emerges and opens the door for further research on honor and group-level processes.

46 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Autonomous motives positively predicted the cognitive ease of reengagement with an alternative goal when the current goal was perceived as unattainable, especially when participants realized goal unattainability relatively early during goal striving.
Abstract: Does motivation for goal pursuit predict how individuals will respond when confronted with unattainable goals? Two studies examined the role of autonomous and controlled motives when pursuing an unattainable goal without (Study 1) or with (Study 2) the opportunity to reengage in alternative goal pursuit. Autonomous motives positively predicted the cognitive ease of reengagement with an alternative goal when the current goal was perceived as unattainable, especially when participants realized goal unattainability relatively early during goal striving. Autonomous motives, however, were negative predictors of cognitive ease of disengagement from an unattainable goal. When faced with failure, autonomously motivated individuals are better off realizing early the goal unattainability. Otherwise, they will find it difficult to disengage cognitively from the pursued goal (despite reengaging cognitively in an alternative goal), possibly due to interfering rumination.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper found that a history of three forms of childhood abuse (i.e., sexual, emotional, and physical) directly predicted subsequent alcohol problems, as well as indirectly via the history of ASA and low levels of self-compassion.
Abstract: A history of childhood abuse has been consistently linked to heightened risk for subsequent difficulties across the lifespan, including problematic alcohol use and adolescent sexual assault (ASA). Researchers have begun to explore the added role of a lack of self-compassion in the pathway from childhood abuse to later alcohol-related problems. The present study sought to further examine these relationships in a sample at risk for problematic alcohol consumption, undergraduate females (N = 667). It was hypothesized that a history of three forms of childhood abuse (i.e., sexual, emotional, and physical) would directly predict subsequent alcohol problems, as well as indirectly via a history of ASA and low levels of self-compassion. Using path analysis, we found that a history of childhood sexual abuse (B = .24, z = 2.17, p < .05) and childhood physical abuse (B = .16, z = 3.50, p < .05), directly predicted later alcohol problems, whereas a history of childhood emotional abuse (CEA) was indirectly related to ...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article found that the self governs event construction in both younger and older adults, and discuss the role of self-related processing in imagining the future and remembering the past in self-image formation.
Abstract: There are differences in the ways in which younger and older adults remember the past and imagine the future. However, little research has examined this finding in relation to the self. Older and younger adults described current and future self-images and generated associated memories and future events. Age differences in the generation of past and future events were paralleled in self-images: Older adults' future self-images were closer to the present, whereas their current self-images were formed longer ago. Both groups' memories and future events clustered temporally around times of self-image formation. We propose that the self governs event construction in both younger and older adults, and discuss the role of self-related processing in imagining the future and remembering the past.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors found that people are more likely to identify with groups that are seen to possess essentialist continuity (compared to narrativist continuity), because these groups most strongly provide them with a feeling of self-continuity.
Abstract: The current research examined the proposition that particularly perceptions of essentialist (compared to narrativist) group continuity enhance group identification, because essentialist group continuity is more likely to satisfy the individual need for self-continuity. This prediction was tested in three studies, using the context of national identity. Study 1 confirmed that only essentialist (and not narrativist) group continuity increased group identification when experimentally induced. Studies 2 (survey) and 3 (experiment) explored the mediating role of collective self-continuity. As expected, it was found that people are more likely to identify with groups that are seen to possess essentialist continuity (compared to narrativist continuity), because these groups most strongly provide them with a feeling of self-continuity.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors examined the role of the self in affective responses to memories of a person's own life events and found that positive events retained affective intensity across the time lag from event occurrence to event recall, whereas negative events did not.
Abstract: Five studies examined the role of the self in affective responses to memories of a person's own life events. Participants (total N = 237) included university students or community members from three countries (Ireland, UK, and USA). Participants described and then rated multiple autobiographical events (n>2600) via diary keeping and retrospective recall. Positive events retained affective intensity across the time lag from event occurrence to event recall, whereas negative events did not. Across all studies, the relationship between event valence and affect associated with events at recall occurred through the extent to which participants perceived their past events as self-defining. In Study 4, this indirect effect strengthened across five sessions that spanned 1 month. In Study 5, this indirect effect did not depend on self-concept clarity, but it did so in an alternative model. The findings illustrate the vital role the self plays in affective responses to personal event memories, and implicate self-en...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a review integrates research in self-psychology, and proposes three common elements that occur during the process of self-concept change: the degree to which the self-aspects are rewarded (or punished in the environment). The second element is comparing oneself with others, whether that involves noting differences or similarities.
Abstract: Self-concept change is a phenomenon that many social psychologists have identified through various constructs and phenomena, but to date no one has provided an integrated framework. This review integrates research in self-psychology, and proposes three common elements that occur during the process of self-concept change. The first element is the degree to which the self-aspects are rewarded (or punished in the environment). The second element is comparing oneself with others, whether that involves noting differences or similarities. The third element is the cognitive accessibility of social and physical stimuli, oftentimes through frequent exposure of those stimuli. In many cases, a combination of these three elements is sufficient to explain the change process. Phenomena that involve the three elements and future applications are discussed.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper found that narcissists respond negatively to ego-threats stemming from both negative evaluative feedback (Bushman, B. J., and Baumeister, R. F. (1998) and negative social feedback (Twenge, J. M., and Campbell, W. K. (2003). “Isn't it fun to get the respect that we're going to deserve?” Narcissism, social rejection and aggression.
Abstract: Research suggests narcissists respond negatively to ego-threats stemming from both negative evaluative feedback (Bushman, B. J., & Baumeister, R. F. (1998). Threatened egotism, narcissism, self-esteem, and direct and displaced aggression: Does self-love or self-hate lead to violence? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 219–229) and negative social feedback (Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2003). “Isn't it fun to get the respect that we're going to deserve?” Narcissism, social rejection, and aggression. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 261–272). In the current study, we used an observational methodology to examine whether narcissists also respond negatively to romantic relationship conflict. Multi-level analyses revealed that people high (vs. low) in narcissism were observed by independent coders as engaging in significantly more negative behaviors (i.e., criticizing, name-calling, insulting) during a conflict with their romantic partner. Post-conflict, narcissists reported f...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper examined socially-prescribed and self-oriented perfectionism (SPP and SOP) and goal adjustment in relation to goal pursuit, depression, and coping, and found that SPP was associated with less optimism about goal success, and the interaction between SPP and goal disengagement predicted stress-related depression and maladaptive coping.
Abstract: This study examined socially-prescribed and self-oriented perfectionism (SPP and SOP) and goal adjustment in relation to goal pursuit, depression, and coping. Students (N = 388) completed measures of perfectionism, idiographic goal pursuit, goal adjustment, and depressive symptoms, and a subset (n = 138) completed an online follow-up assessing stress-related depression and coping. SPP, but not SOP, was associated with current depressive symptoms at both time points. SPP was associated with less optimism about goal success, and the interaction between SPP and goal disengagement predicted stress-related depression and maladaptive coping. SOP was associated with greater optimism about the likelihood of goal success and stronger emotional responses to goal success and failure, and SOP interacted with goal reengagement to predict adaptive coping.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: For example, this article found that individuals with a weak sense of self have highly malleable self-images, even temporarily taking on aspects of the personalities of interaction partners who have a stronger self-image.
Abstract: For over four decades, clinical psychologists have claimed that individuals with a weak sense of self have highly malleable self-images, even temporarily taking on aspects of the personalities of interaction partners who have a stronger sense of self. The present Study 1 provided the first empirical test of this claim. In same-sex stranger dyads that paired a weak-sense-of-self member with a strong-sense-of-self member, the “weak” dyad members changed their post-interaction personality ratings in the direction of the “strong” members' pre-interaction personality, but not vice versa. A follow-up analysis ruled out the possibility that this difference could be attributed to differential regression to the mean (average) personality profile. In Studies 2 and 3, individuals with a weak sense of self were also more likely to accept a false (generic) but seemingly specific personality description as describing them well, and this effect persisted even after controlling for age, gender, socioeconomic status, self...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors found that self-uncertainty reduces saliency of academic-career possible identities and behaviors, but self-certainty does not help unless combined with some world uncertainty.
Abstract: We live in uncertain times; the path toward attaining important goals is best thought of as probabilistic, not certain. Three studies test the prediction that this “world uncertainty,” uncertainty about the path, is motivating if accompanied by certainty that one can have the skills needed to work on one's goals. Self- and world-certainty were separately manipulated in college students, and effect on salience of academic and career possible identities and behaviors was assessed. For students, self-uncertainty reduces salience of academic–career possible identities (Study 1), but self-certainty does not help unless combined with some world-uncertainty (Study 2). This combination also increases planned study hours (Study 2) and actual goal-focused action, working on a resume builder instead of playing games (Study 3).

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors found that students with mastery goals hold stronger positive attitudes toward helping peers, relative to students with performance goals, and that a negative relationship existed between performance goals and helping peers only for individuals with relatively weak mastery goals.
Abstract: The present research was designed to document the relationship between mastery and performance goals and attitudes toward helping others, and to test the mediating role of self-efficacy. Two experiments (Studies 1 and 2) showed that students with mastery goals hold stronger positive attitudes toward helping peers, relative to students with performance goals. Furthermore, a field study (Study 3) indicated that students' mastery goals were positively related to holding positive attitudes toward helping fellow students, whereas performance goals were not. Studies 2 and 3 indicated that this could be explained by the intra-individual process of academic self-efficacy. Finally, it was shown that a negative relationship existed between performance goals and helping peers only for individuals with relatively weak mastery goals.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the importance of non-relationship-specific factors (e.g., self-control) in sacrifice and found evidence that self control underlies romantic relationship maintenance.
Abstract: Previous research has identified that willingness to sacrifice promotes romantic relationship maintenance. In addition, research has identified relationship-specific factors that promote sacrifice. However, research has neglected to examine the importance of non-relationship-specific factors (e.g., self-control) in sacrifice. The current research examined the possibility (and found evidence) that self-control underlies sacrifice. In Study 1, trait self-control was associated with willingness to sacrifice in a series of hypothetical scenarios, even after controlling for established relationship-specific correlates of sacrifice. In Study 2, romantically involved individuals, who had previously been depleted of self-control resources, were less able to make major sacrifices. Thus, self-control is important for romantic individuals' ability to sacrifice.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors studied the intergenerational transmission of vulnerability to distress associated with these stress-generation effects from first-time parents to offspring and found that parenting stress partially mediated the relation between parents' self-criticism and child negative affectivity over time.
Abstract: Parental self-criticism and dependency, referring to maladaptive expressions of self-definition issues and relatedness, respectively, confer vulnerability to psychopathology in the transition to parenthood, in part through their association with stress generation. This prospective study is the first to study the intergenerational transmission of vulnerability to distress associated with these stress-generation effects from first-time parents to offspring. Mother- and father-reported data concerning parental self-criticism, dependency, depression, parenting stress and child negative affectivity (N = 121), measured when their child was in infancy and again 1 year later, were analysed using multilevel structural equation modelling. Results showed that parenting stress partially mediated the relation between parents' self-criticism and child negative affectivity over time. Dependency, in contrast, did not show direct or indirect effects on child negative affectivity, and was characterized by small stress-gene...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors tested the hypothesis that practicing logical reasoning can improve self-control and found that participants in the logic group showed improvements in self control, as revealed by anagram performance after a depleting self control task.
Abstract: We tested the hypothesis that practicing logical reasoning can improve self-control. In an experimental training study (N = 49 undergraduates), for one week participants engaged in daily mental exercises with or without the requirement to practice logical reasoning. Participants in the logic group showed improvements in self-control, as revealed by anagram performance after a depleting self-control task. The benefits of the intervention were short-lived; participants in the two groups performed similarly just one week after the intervention had ended. We discuss the findings with respect to the strength model of self-control and consider possible benefits of regular cognitive challenges in education.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: For instance, this paper found that need fulfillment is associated with less desire to maintain a specific self-image, and that this predicts lower levels of self-presentation with a romantic partner.
Abstract: Self-determination theory suggests that fulfillment of basic psychological needs creates a sense of self-worth that is not contingent upon maintaining a particular self-image. Lower ego-involvement is theorized, in turn, to lead to more authentic interactions with others. The present research tests this assertion across two types of close relationships. In Study 1, participants reported how much a close friendship fulfills their basic psychological needs, their levels of self-image goals, and the extent to which they engage in self-presentation with their friend. In Study 2, participants answered the same questions about a romantic partner. Results suggest that need fulfillment is associated with less desire to maintain a specific self-image, and that this predicts lower levels of self-presentation.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors examined the role of listener behaviors in the development of narrative identity within storytelling contexts, and found that listener behaviors are associated with the meanings that individuals make of their personal stories in conversations with their romantic partners and in subsequent private reflection.
Abstract: The development of narrative identity occurs within storytelling contexts, and the present study examined the role of listener behaviors in this process. Methodology developed within studies of mother–child conversations was used to examine how listener behaviors are associated with the meanings that individuals make of their personal stories in conversations with their romantic partners and in subsequent private reflection. Fifty-two “speakers” shared an important personal memory with their partner. These narratives were coded for meaning-making (self-event connections), and listener turns were coded for scaffolding behaviors (positive responding, new interpretations, negations). Overall, a summary composite score of scaffolding behavior was associated with more meaning produced in the conversation and afterwards. Further analyses showed that scaffolding behavior was particularly important to the production of negative meanings, and specific types of scaffolding behaviors also interacted with each other ...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the desire to become famous was examined among individuals with stable and unstable forms of self-esteem, and it was found that individuals who possess unstable high selfesteem reported a stronger desire to becoming famous than did those with stable high self esteem.
Abstract: The desire to become famous was examined among individuals with stable and unstable forms of self-esteem. Participants were 181 female undergraduates who completed measures of self-esteem level and fame interest along with daily measures of state self-esteem (i.e., how an individual feels about oneself at the present moment) for seven consecutive days. Our results show that individuals who possess unstable high self-esteem reported a stronger desire to become famous than did those with stable high self-esteem. These findings suggest the intriguing possibility that individuals with unstable high self-esteem may want to become famous as a means for gaining external validation. Implications of these findings for understanding the connection between self-esteem and the desire for fame are discussed.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors developed and tested a 10-item Academic Potential Beliefs and Feelings Questionnaire (APBFQ) in three independent samples across two studies and found that the measure was found to have two coherent factors: (i) beliefs about academic potential; and (ii) satisfaction in academic potential.
Abstract: Students’ beliefs about their own academic potential and corresponding feelings of satisfaction in reaction to those beliefs may be influential motivators of academic attitudes and behaviors. To explore this possibility, the authors developed and tested a 10-item Academic Potential Beliefs and Feelings Questionnaire (APBFQ) in three independent samples across two studies. The measure was found to have two coherent factors: (i) beliefs about academic potential; and (ii) satisfaction in academic potential. Both subscales had good reliability, temporal stability, and were differentiated from other self-perceptions. Results suggested that perceived academic potential had desirable relations with academic outcomes. In contrast, while satisfaction correlated positively with intrinsic value for coursework, it was also linked with a variety of maladaptive academic beliefs, behaviors, and underachievement, particularly for male students low in perceived academic potential.

Journal ArticleDOI
Helen C. Boucher1
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated whether the tendency to define the self in terms of close relationships moderates positive illusions in friendship (i.e., operationalized as the better-than-average effect).
Abstract: Three studies investigated whether the tendency to define the self in terms of close relationships moderates positive illusions in friendship (i.e., operationalized as the better-than-average effect). High scorers on the Relational-Interdependent Self-Construal (RISC) Scale were more likely to enhance a close/best friend over an acquaintance (Study 1), were more likely to exploit attribute ambiguity to favor their friends (Study 2), and were more likely to enhance their friends on communal over agentic attributes (Study 3) than low-RISCs. High-RISCs reported satisfying friendships and perceived their friendships to be better than average, compared to moderate- and low-RISCs. Also, friend enhancement on communal over agentic attributes predicted friendship satisfaction and friendship enhancement, but only for high-RISCs. These effects remained when controlling for personal self-esteem. We conclude by discussing directions for future research.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the moderating effect of the self-esteem of participants on their evaluations of opposite-gender targets with randomly assigned selfesteem designations on dimensions relevant for selecting relationship partners, their willingness to engage in particular types of uncommitted relational activities with these targets, and the consequences that participants anticipated for themselves resulting from interactions with the targets.
Abstract: Individuals with high self-esteem are often perceived to be desirable romantic partners. The aim of the present study was to examine the moderating effect of the self-esteem of participants on their evaluations of opposite-gender targets with randomly assigned self-esteem designations on dimensions that are relevant for selecting relationship partners, their willingness to engage in particular types of uncommitted relational activities with these targets, and the consequences that participants anticipated for themselves resulting from interactions with the targets. A randomized experimental two-wave design was used to examine whether the self-esteem possessed by Israeli community participants (N = 799) would moderate the attractiveness ratings they assigned to opposite-gender targets with ostensibly different levels of self-esteem. Our results found that targets with relatively high levels of self-esteem were perceived to be highly attractive and desirable romantic partners. This general pattern was moder...