THE SELF UNDER THREAT Flashcards
What is Self-integrity?
the perception of oneself as morally and adaptively good
*We all have a need for self-integrity
What is a Psychological threat?
the perception of environmental challenge to one’s self-integrity
What are some examples of psychological threats?
Failing a test, being rejected by something, losing a game, etc
Our self integrity is fragile, minor conflicts challenge / threaten us
How do we still see ourselves positively?
Defensive reactions
What are defensive reactions?
negative, hostile, or distorted reaction to anything bad about the self to protect self-integrity
Ex:
*Denial and minimization
*Compensatory conviction
*Doubling down on beliefs or behaviours to defend identity
*Symbolic self-completion
*Self-serving bias
*Blaming others
*Rationalization (Justifyingactions to make them seem more acceptable)
*Avoidance
*Aggression
What are the benefits / limitations of defensive reactions?
*Benefit:
*Allow us to maintain positive self-views and restore self-integrity
*Limitations:
*Get in the way of learning from the challenge/ setback
What is the Self-Affirmation Theory?
*We are motivated to maintain self-integrity, thus when this integrity is threatened, we are motivated to repair it
*We can repair self-integrity by engaging in self-affirmation:
*An act that demonstrates one’s adequacy
What are the 3 Key Principles of Self-Affirmation Theory?
- We are motivated to keep our overall self-integrity
- We don’t upkeep integrity in each individual domain (humour/ relationships/ etc)
- A bigger domain that impacts all other domains - We want to be “good enough” not excellent
- In personally valued domain, we want to seem competent. I’m “good” not best
- Self integrity is maintained by demonstrating integrity through meaningful acts/ domains
- “I’m a good dog owner because I always pet Jake” VS “I’m a good dog owner”
What are some Examples of Self-Affirmations?
*Accomplishments
*Engaging in meaningful activities (walk with god to demonstrate she’s a good dog owner)
*Reflecting on personal values and strengths
*Most often used in research settings
*Participants are asked to identify and write an essay about important values
* Often talk about character traits and important relationships
Do both symbolic self-completion and self-affirmation help people cope with self-threats?
Yes
What is Symbolic self-completion?
Usually defensive
Engaging in activities that will bolster (make trait stronger) the specific self-aspect that was threatened (“complete” the threatened identity)
*Usually defensive and involves superficial signals to prove the threatened self-aspect
*More likely if the threatened domain is central to self-concept
Ex. Journalism study with Debbie
What is Self-affirmation?
We compensate for threats to the self by engaging in activities that will bolster our globalsense of self-integrity
*More likely if the threatened domain is less central
How does self affirmation impact symbolic self-completion?
Self-affirmation can reduce the need for symbolic self-completion
Priya is an aspiring artist who has been working on a major gallery submission. When her work is rejected, she feels like a failure. What is a self-affirmation response to this setback?
a. Pryia starts telling ppl she is an “established artist” and shares more posts about her art online
b. Pryia buys expensive art supplies and “artsy” clothing to reinforce her artistic identity
c. Pryia reassures herself by remembering that she is a dedicated community volunteer and loving friend
d. Pryia completely stops creating art to avoid further disappointment
c. Pryia reassures herself by remembering that she is a dedicated community volunteer and loving friend
Why is Self-Affirmation Helpful?
Self-affirmations lifts barriers to learning from threat by:
*Buffering against threat
*Self-affirmations reassure people that they have integrity and help them to see themselves in a broader way
*Reducing defensiveness
- Ex. if bad test score, you can prove you are good at a hobby
Evidence for Effects of Self-Affirmation
3 examples:
1.Stereotype threat in education
2.Prejudice as a reaction to self-threat
3.Mortality salience and worldview protection
What is Stereotype Threat?
*When individuals fear that they will confirm a negative stereotype about their social group, which leads to increased anxiety, reduced performance, and disengagement from the domain
*Helps explain why students from minority groups show an achievement gap compared to students from majority groups
*E.g. Research shows that when race is emphasized before a test, minority students perform worse than when race is not mentioned
Study: Can self-affirmation reduce the achievement gap of minority students by reducing stereotype threat?
Longitudinal study in White and Latino middle school students
4 times over the school year before a test
*Self-affirmation: Write about a particular value that is most important to you
*Control: Write about why a particular value that is not important to you may be important to someone else
FOUND:
Self-affirmation improved the GPA of minority students but not White students, thus closing the achievement gap
Lasted after 2 years!
Suggests: self-affirmations can improve the academic performance of minority students
What is a positive feedback loop?
Self-affirmation can create long lasting positive change by setting off a positive feedback loop between:
- self-perceptions,
- positive outcomes,
- the social environment
Explain the positive feedback loop?
- self-perceptions,
- positive outcomes,
- the social environment
Self: Feels better from positive outcomes
- The self causes positive outcomes
Outcomes: Makes you think you can do better
- The social environment (will influence better outcomes)
Self-Affirming Feedback Loop (example)
1.Self-affirmation leads to better GPA
2.Better GPA reinforces self-integrity
3.Because the students got a better GPA, teachers expect more of them
4.Higher expectations draw out better performance
5.Others reinforce self-integrity through positive feedback
6.The student alters the social world in ways other than through better outcomes, like asking for help and selecting challenging course
What is Prejudice as a Reaction to Self-Threat?
Threats to the self may lead people to endorse prejudicial attitudes in an attempt to restore self-integrity
*When a person feels bad about themselves, denigrating an outgroup can make them feel better about themselves
Explain the study that follows this hypothesis:
Providing people with another way to self-affirm should reduce prejudicial attitudes
Two part study:
1. Intelligence test
Experimental manipulation:
*Threat to self: negative feedback
*No threat: positive feedback
Then: Assessed state self-esteem
- Evaluated job candidate based on work experience, academic record, skills
*Some participants believe the candidate is Jewish
*Others believe the candidate is Italian
- Then test self esteem
FOUND:
Threat to self led to prejudicial attitude against outgroup member (Jewish candidate) and subsequent increase in self-esteem
What does the self-esteem study (on prejudice) find?
Threat to self led to prejudicial attitudes which increased self-esteem
*Suggests that prejudice partly stems from a desire to restore self-integrity
Explain Study 2: Does affirming the self reduce prejudice?
(Follow up to study on Jewish and Italian candiates)
Two part study
Part 1: All participants threatened with negative feedback on intelligence test
- Self-affirmation: Write about a particular value that is most important to you
- Control: Write about why a particular value that is not important to you may be important to someone else
(then evaluate Jewish and Italian candidates)
FOUND: Self-affirmation eliminated prejudicial attitudes!!!
- Mortality salience and worldview protection
What is Terror Management Theory?
*Awareness that we will die some day creates terror
*To manage this terror, we cling to our cultural worldviews, self-esteem, and close relationships
*Allow us to see ourselves as a person of value living in a meaningful world
*Allow us to symbolically live forever
Effect of Mortality Salience?
Mortality salience, being reminded of one’s mortality, leads to worldview protection
Effect of Mortality Salience:
Examples of worldview protection?
*More negative evaluations of people that criticize culture and more positive evaluations of people that praise it
*More ingroup bias
*More aggression towards those that have a different worldview
*Greater support for violent solutions to ethnic, religious, and international conflicts
*Preference for less risky activities
Does self-affirmation eliminate negative effects of mortality salience?
Study on American university students
Mortality salience manipulation:
*Mortality salience: Answered questions about own death
*Control: Answered questions about dental pain
Affirmation manipulation:
*Self-affirmation: Wrote about an important value
*No affirmation: Wrote about less important value
*Read and evaluated anti-American essay
FOUND:
Self-affirmation eliminated typical terror management defense strategy of derogating people that don’t share worldview
How does self-affirmation help individuals cope with self-threats in a way that enhances performance?
a. by encouraging people to ignore negative feedback and focus solely on their strengths
b. By reducing defensiveness, allowing people to process threats more openly and make constructive changes
c. By preventing people from taking risks, thereby avoiding potential failure
d. Be encouraging individuals to rely on external validation for self worth
b. By reducing defensiveness, allowing people to process threats more openly and make constructive changes
