Self-guides, autobiographical memory, and anxiety and dysphoria: Toward a cognitive model of vulnerability to emotional distress.

Several aspects of a cognitive model of vulnerability to emotional disorders based on self-discrepancy theory were tested. Anxious, dysphoric, anxious/dysphoric, and control Ss participated in 3 studies over a 4-mo period: screening, assessment of self-guides and self-discrepancies, and an autobiographical memory task in which different types of retrieval cues (including self-guides) were presented, and Ss reported childhood memories as they came to mind. Actual:ideal discrepancy was associated with persistent dysphoria, whereas actual:ought discrepancy was associated with persistent anxiety. Self-guide cues resulted in more efficient retrieval and greater unintended negative emotional content than comparable cue types. The groups were differentiated only by negative affect content in response to self-guide cues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Automatic activation of self-discrepancies and emotional syndromes: When cognitive structures influence affect.

Different types of self-discrepancies are associated with different negative affects. Two studies were conducted to determine whether automatic activation of specific actual-self: self-guide mismatches, as cognitive structures, would induce distinct emotional states. Subjects possessing significant discrepancies between their actual self and either their ideal self-guide (attributes that someone wishes or hopes the person would possess) or their ought self-guide (attributes that someone believes the person has the duty or obligation to possess) responded verbally to an audiotape while "thinking about other people." Study 1 involved two kinds of priming attributes: self-relevant and yoked (another subject's self-relevant attributes). Activating mismatches induced momentary syndromes of dejection (sadness, decreased arousal) in ideal-discrepant subjects but induced agitation (nervousness, increased arousal) in ought-discrepant subjects. In Study 2, subjects were randomized to either self-relevant/nondiscrepant, self-discrepant, or yoked priming. The findings of Study 1 were replicated for the self-discrepant priming condition alone. Results indicate that (a) mismatches constitute cognitive structures and (b) automatic activation of different mismatches via contextual priming induces distinct types of emotional discomfort. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Optimism and Pessimism as Mediators of the Relations Between Self-Discrepancies and Distress Among Asian and European Americans.

The authors examined the role of undesired self-discrepancies in predicting emotional distress among Asian and European Americans, whether undesired self-discrepancies are stronger predictors of distress for Asian than for European Americans, and whether optimism and pessimism mediate the relations between ideal, ought, and undesired self-discrepancies and emotional distress. Self-identified Asian/Asian American (n = 140) and European American (n = 189) college students completed measures of self-discrepancies, optimism/pessimism, social anxiety, and depressive symptoms. Results show that for both Asian Americans and European Americans, greater similarity to the undesired self is equally predictive of symptoms of depression, whereas distance from the undesired self is more predictive of social anxiety for Asian Americans than for European Americans. Furthermore, pessimism fully mediates the relations between undesired self-discrepancies and depressive symptoms for both Asian Americans and European Americans, although pessimism was a stronger predictor of depression for European Americans than for Asians/Asian Americans. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temperament, recalled parenting styles, and self-regulation: testing the developmental postulates of self-discrepancy theory

Self-discrepancy theory (SDT) postulates that self-regulatory systems corresponding to the ideal and ought self-domains emerge from the influences of temperament (e.g., sensitivity to stimuli for positive vs. negative outcomes) and socialization (e.g., parenting behaviors and interpersonal outcome contingencies). This article reports 2 studies testing the developmental postulates of SDT concurrently and retrospectively. Study 1 showed that self-regulation with reference to the ideal vs. the ought domain was differentially associated with recollections of parenting styles of warmth and rejection, respectively. In Study 2, these findings were replicated, and self-regulation with reference to the ideal vs. ought domain was discriminantly associated with questionnaire measures of positive vs. negative temperament. Findings support the developmental postulates of SDT, despite the limitations of retrospective studies.     

A cognitively oriented psychologist looks at biofeedback.

Argues that emotional processes and their self-regulation are products of mediating cognitive appraisals about the significance of an event for a person's well-being and that the control of somatic processes is an integral aspect of emotional states and their self-regulation. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-discrepancy and natural killer cell activity: Immunological consequences of negative self-evaluation.

Tested whether self-discrepancy theory could account for changes in natural killer (NK) cell activity after exposure to self-referential stimuli. Anxious, dysphoric, and control Ss were pretested and 1 mo later covertly exposed to their own self-guides as well as those of another S. Blood samples were drawn for analysis of NK cytotoxicity and cortisol. The dysphoric Ss manifested the greatest actual:ideal discrepancy, whereas the anxious Ss manifested the greatest actual:ought discrepancy. Content analysis of written responses showed that activating discrepancies induced specific negative states; priming discrepancies also increased cortisol for the anxious Ss. NK activity was lower after self-referential priming for both distressed groups, particularly the anxious Ss. The control Ss showed a trend toward increased NK activity after self-referential priming. The study represents the 1st experimental demonstration that negative self-evaluation can alter immune responses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The undesired self: A neglected variable in personality research.

Personality theorists have given a great deal of attention to the relation between the real self and the ideal self with the implication that they are contrasting entities. The concept of an undesired self is introduced as a more compelling contrast with the ideal self. It is argued that the undesired self, in comparison with the ideal self, is the preferred reference point for making judgments of present-day life satisfaction. Hypotheses derived from this theoretical perspective were tested by using Identities?×?Features matrices generated by 45 college subjects. The distance between the real self and the ideal self and the distance between the real self and the undesired self were calculated. It is shown that the latter distance correlates more highly with ratings of life satisfaction than does the distance between the real and ideal selves, which suggests that satisfaction (in both male and female subjects) is more a function of one's subjective distance from unwanted affects and circumstances than a function of one's proximity to ideal states of existence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relation between self-discrepancies and emotion: The moderating roles of self-guide importance, location relevance, and social self-domain centrality.

In 5 studies, the authors investigated the effects of self-guide importance, domain centrality to self-definition, and self-domain relevance of testing location on relationships between actual–ideal (AI) and actual–ought (AO) discrepancies and emotions. Although no unique relationships occurred for self discrepancies, moderating effects were found for social self-domains. Location relevance overshadowed other moderator effects. In less relevant locations, AI discrepancies were smaller and AO discrepancy–emotion relationships were moderated by self-guide importance. For more important self-domains, AI discrepancies were smaller and AO discrepancies were unrelated to agitation. For less important self-domains, agitation was related to the AO discrepancy and self-guide importance interaction. By suggesting that different self-regulatory strategies minimize the consequences of AI and AO discrepancies, evidence for distinct ideal and ought self-regulation is provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-discrepancies in clinical depression and social phobia: Cognitive structures that underlie emotional disorders?

Previous research indicates that self-discrepancies are cognitive structures that can induce emotional discomfort. The present study compared clinically depressed and social phobic subjects (plus controls) to determine whether different self-discrepancies were associated with the two disorders. In Part 1, it was shown that the depressives possessed the greatest discrepancy between their actual and ideal/own self-states, whereas the social phobics possessed the greatest discrepancy between their actual and ought/other self-states. In a later, ostensibly unrelated study, Ss responded verbally to questions about other people while their mood changes, skin conductance responses, and verbalizations were recorded. The questions included attributes from the S's ideal and ought self-states that were mismatches with attributes from his or her actual self, as well as mismatch attributes from other Ss. Priming with self-referential mismatches induced momentary syndromes of dejection or agitation (depending on the type of mismatch). The depressives and social phobics showed the greatest increase in dejection and agitation, respectively, according to their dominant self-discrepancy. Specific cognitive structures may underlie clinical depression and anxiety. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-discrepancies and emotional vulnerability: How magnitude, accessibility, and type of discrepancy influence affect.

Two studies with 129 undergraduates examined whether the type of emotional change experienced by individuals is influenced by the magnitude and accessibility of the different types of self-discrepancies they possess. In both studies, Ss filled out a measure of self-discrepancy a few weeks prior to the experimental session. Ss were asked to list up to 10 attributes each for their actual self, their ideal self (their own or others' hopes and goals for them), and their ought self (their own or others' beliefs about their duty and obligations). In Study 1, Ss asked to imagine a positive or negative event who had a predominant actual–ideal discrepancy felt more dejected on a mood measure and wrote more slowly on a writing-speed task in the negative event condition than in the positive event condition. Ss with a predominant actual–ought discrepancy felt more agitated and wrote more quickly in the negative event condition. In Study 2, Ss high or low in both kinds of discrepancies were either asked to discuss their own and their parents' hopes and goals for them (ideal priming) or asked to discuss their own and their parents' beliefs concerning their duty and obligations (ought priming). For high-discrepancy Ss, ideal priming increased their dejection, whereas ought priming increased their agitation. (59 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Keeping track of needs in communal and exchange relationships.

Two studies with 99 undergraduates examined the degree to which an individual will keep track of another's needs as a function of the type of relationship desired (communal or exchange) and perceived opportunity for the other to later reciprocate by keeping track of the S's needs (opportunity or no opportunity). Exp I tested the hypotheses that (a) when there is no opportunity for the other to reciprocate, keeping track of the other's needs will be greater if the person desires a communal rather than an exchange relationship with the other. (b) If the person desires an exchange relationship, keeping track of the other's needs will be greater when an opportunity for the other to reciprocate exists than when it does not. (c) If a communal relationship is desired, the existence of an opportunity for the other to reciprocate will not influence keeping track of the other's needs. Results support all 3 hypotheses. The 2nd experiment tested and found support for the hypothesis that even when nothing can be done to help the other, keeping track of the other's needs will be greater if a communal rather than an exchange relationship is desired. Overall findings support the view that keeping track of another person's needs differs depending on the type of relationship with the other person. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of the severity of threat on the devaluation of forbidden behavior.

If a person is induced to cease performing a desired action through the threat of punishment, he will experience dissonance. His cognition that he is not performing the action is dissonant with his cognition that the action is desirable. An effective way of reducing dissonance is by derogating the action. The greater the threat of punishment the less the dissonance—since a severe threat is consonant with ceasing to perform the action. Thus, the milder the threat, the greater will be a person's tendency to derogate the action. In a laboratory experiment 22 preschool children stopped playing with a desired toy in the face of either a mild or severe threat of punishment. The mild threat led to more derogation of the toy than the severe threat. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Specificity of empathy-induced helping: Evidence for altruistic motivation.

This experiment investigated altruistic vs. egoistic interpretations of the effect of empathic concern on helping. The empathy–altruism hypothesis posits that empathic concern arouses an altruistic motivation to relieve the distress of another person; the negative state relief interpretation proposes that the effect of empathic concern is mediated by sadness, which produces an egoistic motivation to reduce one's own unpleasant state. 96 male and 96 female Ss first listened with an imagine or observe set to another person's problem and then were given an opportunity to help that person with the same problem or with a different problem. Consistent with the empathy–altruism hypothesis, imagine-set Ss helped more often than did observe-set Ss for the same problem but not for a different one. In addition, only empathic concern associated with the specific problem related to helping. Although sadness was related to helping, it did not account for the effect of empathic concern. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Discrepancy-based and anticipated emotions in behavioral self-regulation.

Discrepancies between one's current and desired states evoke negative emotions, which presumably guide self-regulation. In the current work we evaluated the function of discrepancy-based emotions in behavioral self-regulation. Contrary to classic theories of self-regulation, discrepancy-based emotions did not predict the degree to which people engaged in self-regulatory behavior. Instead, expectations about how future self-discrepancies would make one feel (i.e., anticipated emotions) predicted self-regulation. However, anticipated emotions were influenced by previous discrepancy-based emotional experiences, suggesting that the latter do not directly motivate self-regulation but rather guide expectations. These findings are consistent with the perspective that emotions do not necessarily direct immediate behavior, but rather have an indirect effect by guiding expectations, which in turn predict goal-directed action. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-related problems beyond the self-concept: Motivational consequences of discrepant self-guides.

In 2 studies, we tested the hypothesis that people who possess conflicting standards or self-guides are vulnerable to a particular type of psychological discomfort. We found that Ss possessing discrepant self-guides experienced significantly more frequently the cluster of emotional–motivational problems predicted to be related to a chronic double approach–avoidance conflict (feeling muddled, indecisive, distractible, unsure of self or goals, rebellious, confused about identity) than did Ss without such a discrepancy. Evidence is presented that this specific relation is independent of self-concept-related beliefs and problems. However, evidence is also presented that self-guide–self-guide discrepancies influence the nature of the self-concept, which may reflect Ss' chronic difficulties with self-assessment along a dimension described by this type of discrepancy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-ideal-self discrepancy and the choice of marital partner.

Theorized that marital choice occurs as a result of marital bargaining of which self-acceptance is a key negotiable asset. 4 hypotheses were formulated for 99 undergraduate couples who were "going steady" or were engaged: (a) persons became engaged to partners of similar degree of self-ideal-self acceptance, (b) the perception of the partner as similar or different depends on the degree of self-acceptance, (c) persons of low self-acceptance marry those whom they perceive as less desirable, (d) perceived role fit between perception of fiance and ideal spouse will be significantly greater than actual role fit (self-perception by 1 partner and ideal spouse desired by other partner). All hypotheses are confirmed. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotional trade-offs of becoming a parent: How social roles influence self-discrepancy effects.

Why do some people suffer from becoming a parent, whereas others do not? New parents' actual selves were related to their own hopes for themselves (ideal self) and to their spouse's sense of their responsibilities (ought self). Prebirth actual–ideal discrepancies predicted increased sadness or dejection after birth (especially for couples in longer marriages), whereas prebirth actual–ought discrepancies predicted decreased nervousness or agitation after birth (especially for mothers and couples with a less "easy" child). Becoming a parent introduces new demands that both interfere with attaining one's own hopes (increasing dejection in parents high in ideal [own] discrepancy) and shift attention to the new parenting role (decreasing agitation in parents high in ought [spouse] discrepancy). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reducing self-discrepancies or maintaining self-congruence? Uncertainty orientation, self-regulation, and performance.

Reducing discrepancies between performance and goals was predicted to motivate uncertainty-oriented people, but maintaining congruence was predicted to be more motivating for certainty-oriented people. Being motivated should lead to better performance when a person is focused on positive outcomes, or to worse performance if he or she is focused on negative outcomes (success-oriented vs. failure-threatened in Studies 1 and 2, ideal vs. ought discrepancy in Study 3). Three studies tested these hypotheses: an experiment that used bogus performance feedback, a field study of examination performance as a function of prior discrepancies from desired grades, and an experimental priming of standards associated with a discrepancy or with no discrepancy. All 3 studies revealed the predicted interaction, supporting the hypothesis that there are individual differences in motivation as a function of goal discrepancy or congruence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dissociation kinetics of RecA protein-three-stranded DNA complexes reveals a low fidelity of RecA-assisted recognition of homology

We determined that the incorporation of one mismatch into RecA mediated synaptic complexes between oligonucleotide single-stranded DNAs and target duplex DNAs destabilizes the complex by 0.8 to 1.9 kcal/mol. This finding supports our previous result, that RecA binding per se can significantly decrease the loss in free energy associated with mismatch incorporation even in the absence of ATP hydrolysis. We show that the specificity is mostly driven by the dissociation process. We found that the relative destabilization induced by different mismatches depends on their position. Thus, while there is a good correlation between the ranking order of mismatches at the 5' end of synaptic complexes and mismatches in heteroduplexes (D-loops), there is no correlation between the ranking order for mismatches at the 3' end and mismatches in various DNA structures. This difference between the 5' and 3' ends of synaptic complexes agrees well with the established 5' to 3' polarity of the strand exchange promoted by RecA protein. The lack of a correlation between mismatches at the 3' end of synaptic complexes and mismatches in D-loops suggests the intermediate is probably not a canonical protein-free D-loop.