Self-Affirmation Theory Flashcards
Where did the theory origin from?
Steele - study about women and cooperation, interested in whether when people are threatened, they would comply more because their self-image is threatened
Steele - cooperation study
Women were contacted by telephone - from a community who were known as cooperative:
ppts told:
name calling condition: common knowledge that members of community were uncooperative with community projects
positive name condition: common knowledge that they were cooperative
irrelevant name calling condition: experimenter criticised the communities lack of concern for careful driving
2 days later: separate exp posing as a member of community asked if the women would help with the development of a food cooperative
Results: in negative name condition, higher level of compliance than positive because being threatened. Level of compliance was also high in irrelevant negative condition - threat to self-image
What is self-affirmation theory?
Steele: 1988
It is concerned with how people are motivate to reaffirm a sense of person integrity - they want to defend themselves
People are motivated to maintain a sense of self-integrity, when they are threatened, they act defensively
What have self-affirmation manipulations shown?
If we boost the self, people process info more systematically, accept more information, change attitudes, intentions and behaviour
Self-affirming thoughts make it easier to treat information objectively rather than defensively
What is it similar too?
Steele - people want to deal with the threat inconsistency poses to the perception of self-integrity
Aronson - dissonance is greatest when it involves not just two cognitions but a cognition about the self and a piece of behaviour which violates self-concept
What are the kinds of self-affirmation manipulations?
Personal attributes inventory: ppts are asked to complete a series of questions about positive acts they have carried out
or
Values affirmation method: ppts are asked to write about their most important value and why - this is the most frequently used
control - select the least important and why
How can prejudice effect the self?
People are prejudice because it boosts their sense of self worth, if they can put others down
Prejudice is self-affirming
Fein and Spencer: Self-affirmation and prejudice
Students in self-affirmation condition indicated most important value to them and why, no affirmation indicated value of least importance. Read an application form and saw a 8 min video tape with excerpts from the job interview. They got the impression that the candidate was either jewish or non jewish (Italian). At the time, stereotype was bad of young jewish students
Results: no main effect of affirmation, Italian overall more positive. When people were self-affirmed, no effect but when not, there is a prejudice attitude towards Jewish candidates, less likely to say they were suitable for the job
Conclusions: prejudice is self-affirming but if there sense of self is already boosted, don’t feel the need
Reed and Aspinwall: Caffeine consumption
66 female students
info about the link between caffeine consumption and breast disease
affirmation or no affirmation
access to risk confirming info, disconfirming info or neutral
DV: beliefs, recall of info, intentions etc
If self affirmed, high caffeine ppts rated risk-confirming info as more convincing than non affirmed/high caffeine ppts - people are more accepting of threatening when affirmed and objectively
if not affirmed - act defensively, don’t accept the info
What do people do with threatening information?
Process it in a biased way
Have the effects gone in a different way before?
Caffeine consumption example - intentions to reduce caffeine use
Those who were affirmed, had lower intentions to reduce it than non affirmed
Key examples - health-risk information
Steele - self affirmed caffeine drinkers more accepting of info linking caffeine to disease than non affirmed and more likely to reduce consumption
Harris and Napper - self-affirmed higher risk ppts were more accepting of info linking alcohol consumption to breast cancer
What do people do when they receive health threatening information?
Respond defensively as a means of maintaining their positive self-image - but if their self can be affirmed through some other means, they won’t respond defensively
Jessop, Simmonds and Sparks: Sun-screen use
Effect of self-affirmation on message acceptance, attitudes, intentions and behaviour
assessment of effectivness of different kinds of affirmation and the effectiveness of a method used in applied research - real life
169 women approached on the beach
1. Question on sun screen use
2. Affirmation manipulation: (values affirmation (choose most important), kindness affirmation (ever been kind), positive traits affirmation (circled if they were/were not certain traits and then told you would be a ideal candidate to task part in challenge to use sunscreen, can alter quality of life, you deserve looking after) and control
3. Health promotion leaflet - skin cancer and sun safetey
DV - acceptance of a free sunscreen sample
Results: if in positive traits affirmation, more likely to use the sample of sunscren
Conclusions: a different form of manipulation is useful in an applied setting
Environmental issues - past recycling behaviour study
90 ppts, measure of past recycling behaviour. Self affirmation manipulation, presentation of threatening info (landfill sites can cause health problems etc)
Measures of measure acceptance, attitudes towards increasing amount recycled, intention to increase amount recycled
Results: nothing happens for high recyclers, doesn’t apply to them. Low recyclers, those in affirmation condition, more likely to reduce recycling than control group
Conclusions: affirmation manipulation had a positive effect on intentions of lower recyclers, application to environmental issues
