Lecture 19 - Self III (Self-Enhancement/Self-Affirmation) Flashcards
What is the Self-evaluation Maintenance Model?
When outperformed by others, you can either bask in reflected self glory to enhance yourself or engage in social comparison, where we look worse.
What factors influence the SEMM?
Greater impact of the self when a closer person outperforms you, but then BIRGing is possible (not possible with a stranger).
Self-relevance is important. BIRG when not relevant, compare when relevant.
How does sabotaging influence self-enhancement?
Sabotage others to enhance your own sense of self. Bring A Friend study -> closeness and relevance interaction effect.
What is the difference between self-enhancement and self-affirmation?
Self-enhancement strategies are actually defense mechanisms against the self, while self-affirmation attempts to reduce defensive responses.
What is Self-Affirmation Theory?
When under self-threat, people activate the self-system to protect themselves. It consists of various aspects of the self (roles, relationships, etc.). When one aspect is threatened, endorse an alternative view. This diminishes the self and restores integrity.
How are self-affirmation studies conducted?
Participants rank values in term of importance, then write about the most important value (affirmation) or least important (control). Then the individual or collective self is threatened and defensive responses are measured.
In a study of athletes, they were either self-affirmed or not and asked about their teams contribution to the match. Winners in the non-affirmation showed highest group contribution agreement, with no sig dif between affirmed groups. Demonstrates that self-affirmation endorses the individual over the collective self.
Can self-affirmation reduce stress?
Potentially, yes. Participants were self-affirmed or not and then completed the Trier Social Stress task. Salivary cortisol levels were measured at baseline and at 20, 30 and 45 minutes. Self-affirmed condition had lower levels of cortisol post-stress.
