Beyond Cognitive Dissonance Theory: Self-Affirmation Processes Flashcards
What are the origins of self-affirmation theory?
Steele (1975). Women in Salt Lake City contacted by telephone. 3 conditions: name calling condition (calling them uncooperative, which is inconsistent with their image of themselves. Meant to promote a sense of inconsistency). Positive name condition (calling them cooperative), and irrelevant name condition. Two days later sought their help with the development of a food co-operative - expected a greater level of compliance in negative name condition. Perhaps not inconsistency that is important, but threat to one’s self image and sense of selves drives their motivation in situations such as this.
What is self-affirmation theory?
Claude Steele. Concerned with how people are motivated to reaffirm a sense of personal integrity when their integrity is threatened.
What is the background to self-affirmation theory?
When people’s view of themselves are threatened, people will act defensively. If can boost people’s sense of self-regard, there is lots of literature that says you can get people to process info more systematically rather than defensively, get them to change their attitudes, intentions and behaviour.
What are self-affirmation manipulations?
Participants are sometimes asked to complete a series of simple questions about positive acts that they have carried out. Participants are sometimes asked to write about e.g. their most important value - meant to boost sense of self regard.
What did Fein and Spencer (1997) find?
Self-affirmation condition - indicated their most important value and wrote about why it was important to them.
No-affirmation condition - indicated the value of least importance to them and wrote about why it might be important to someone else.
In order to evaluate a job candidate, they read the application form and then saw an 8 minute videotape with (ostensibly) excerpts from the job interview. Minor modifications gave the impression that the candidate (female) was either Jewish or non-Jewish (& probably Italian).
Want to make the argument that prejudice can be self-affirming. Literature said we have prejudice to create a positive distinction between yourself and others (putting someone else down makes you feel better).
What is the caffeine consumption example (Reed and Aspinwall, 1998)?
Female introductory psychology class students. Information about the link between caffeine consumption and fibrocystic breast disease. 2. Affirmation (affirmation vs. no affirmation). Access to risk-confirming information, risk disconfirming information, and neutral information. Dependent measures: e.g., beliefs, ratings of argument strength, recall of information, perceived control, intentions. Self-affirmed / high caffeine participants rated risk-confirming information as more convincing (relative to risk-disconfirming information) than did non-affirmed/ high caffeine participants. When people are threatened they will process info in a baised way. If not affirmed they’ll act defensively, if affirmed they will be more self-assured and answer more objectively.
What did Jessop, Simmonds and Sparks (2009) find?
A study of the effect of self-affirmation on message acceptance, attitudes, intentions and behaviour in relation to sun-screen use. Women approached on Bexhill beach. 1. Questions on sun-screen use. 2. Affirmation manipulation: four conditions (Values affirmation; kindness affirmation; positive traits affirmation; control). 3. Health Promotion Leaflet (‘Skin Cancer and Sun Safety’) 4. Various dependent measures. Highest % of participants taking free sample of sun-screen due to positive traits affirmation. Indication that there is a behavioural effect.
What are environmental issues in self-affirmation theory?
Very little evidence of applications of self-affirmation theory to environmental issues. However, denial is described as a characteristic feature of the ‘unsustainable thinking’ that protects us from anxiety abut global environmental and social problems.
What is a study on recycling behaviour?
Measure of past recycling behaviour. Presentation of ‘threatening’ information about recycling. The affirmation manipulation had a positive effect on the intentions to increase the amount recoiled of lower recyclers. ‘Personal relevance’ is an important issues. These results indicate some promise for the application of self-affirmation theory to environmental issues.
What did Graham-Rowe, Jessop, and Sparks find?
Recruited participants through ‘box’ companies and council food waste management departments. Measure of baseline behaviour (fruit and veg waste). Self-affirmation manipulation: info about the negative consequences of food waste. Measures behaviour seven days later. Self-affirmation manipulation had a positive effect on self-reported food waste behaviour.
What did Silvanathan and Pettit (2010) find?
Consumption can ‘signal social status’. Consumption might serve as an ‘indirect source of self-affirmation’. Looking at whether consumption can convey high social status. Looked at how much participants would be willing to pay for the object - Idea is that one of these photographs is meant to convey high social status and the other isn’t. Negative feedback and no self-affirmation increased the amount paid for the object.
