Calibrating the sociometer: The relationship between interpersonal appraisals and the state self-esteem.

Four experiments examined the functional relationship between interpersonal appraisal and subjective feelings about oneself. Participants imagined receiving one of several positive or negative reactions from another person (Experiments 1, 2, and 3) or actually received interpersonal evaluations (Experiment 4), then completed measures relevant to state self-esteem. All 4 studies showed that subjective feelings were a curvilinear, ogival function of others' appraisals. Although trait self-esteem correlated with state reactions as a main effect, it did not moderate participants' reactions to interpersonal feedback. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social acceptance and self-esteem: Tuning the sociometer to interpersonal value.

The authors draw on sociometer theory to propose that self-esteem is attuned to traits that garner others' acceptance, and the traits that garner acceptance depend on one's social role. Attunement of self-esteem refers to the linkage, or connection, between self-esteem and specific traits, which may be observed most clearly in the association between self-esteem and specific self-evaluations. In most roles, appearance and popularity determine acceptance, so self-esteem is most attuned to those traits. At the same time, interdependent social roles emphasize the value of communal qualities, so occupants of those roles have self-esteem that is more attuned to communal qualities than is the general norm. To avoid the biases of people's personal theories, the authors assessed attunement of self-esteem to particular traits indirectly via the correlation between self-esteem and self-ratings, cognitive accessibility measures, and an experiment involving social decision making. As hypothesized, self-esteem was generally more attuned to appearances than to communal qualities, but interdependent social roles predicted heightened attunement of self-esteem to qualities like kindness and understanding. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Generalized self-efficacy, self-esteem, and negative affect.

In order to help resolve the ongoing debate about the relationship between and the functions of self-esteem and generalized self-efficacy (GSE), the authors tested the hypotheses that GSE predicts future self-esteem and that self-esteem predicts unique incremental variance in future negative affect. Measures of these three constructs were administered to two samples of undergraduates (N = 160 and N = 75) twice over five-six weeks. Time 1 GSE accounted for significant variance in Time 2 self-esteem in both studies, 1.6% of the variance in Study 1 and 4.6% of the variance in Study 2, after controlling for Time 1 self-esteem. Time 1 self-esteem did not predict Time 2 GSE in either study. Self-esteem accounted for significant variance in negative affect in Study 1. Results suggest that GSE and self-esteem are distinct, that GSE may play a role in the development of self-esteem, and that self-esteem may help shape negative affect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Identification, authoritarian defensiveness, and self-esteem.

It was hypothesized that if one individual identifies with another with regard to 1 trait, the possession of a 2nd trait by the one with whom S identifies will lead S to assume the possession of even the 2nd trait. The opposite was also hypothesized, i.e., that if a person is made to perceive that he is opposite to a model with regard to a given trait, he will perceive that he is opposite the other trait. The degree of self-esteem will also influence this process; the higher the self-esteem the lower the assumption of similarity. After performing on 4 tasks (identifying associated nouns, finding antonymns, letter-number substitution, making words formed from other words), Ss were presented with material to structure identification or distinction from another S who performed the same or opposite tasks, describing this S in terms of intellectual level. Results supported the hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conformity, veridicality, and self-esteem.

Prior to the application of group pressure to conform to an erroneous consensus in the Blake-Brehm procedure of counting auditory clicks, a control series was administered in the absence of social pressure to ascertain sheer counting accuracy in 2 groups of experimental Ss selected to differ in the degree of their measured self-esteem. Low self-esteem Ss were found to be significantly less accurate than high self-esteem Ss in counting accuracy under the nonsocial conditions. The results highlight the importance of controlling for competency in conformity research, particularly in studies utilizing such personality variables as self-esteem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of changes in self-esteem upon impulsiveness and deliberation in making judgments.

The need for closure, i.e., the effort to impart meaning to situations, is assumed to be related to the personality variable of self-esteem. Self-esteem was manipulated experimentally and hypotheses tested as to the effect of increased or decreased self-esteem on the need for closure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relational self revealed: Integrative conceptualization and implications for interpersonal life.

The authors offer a new, integrative conceptualization of the relational self based on a synthesis of recent approaches to the self and significant others. This conceptualization provides a sharper and fuller definition of the relational self than does any existing approach alone and a common framework to interpret findings from separate literatures. The authors then present 5 propositions and evidence to support the thesis that relational selves exert a pervasive influence on interpersonal life. Specifically, relational selves (a) shape a wide range of psychological processes and outcomes, (b) exert their influence automatically, (c) serve basic orientation and meaning functions, (d) provide continuity and context-specific variability in personality, and (e) carry implications for psychological well-being. Discussion focuses on remaining issues and implications for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relational self: An interpersonal social-cognitive theory.

The authors propose an interpersonal social-cognitive theory of the self and personality, the relational self, in which knowledge about the self is linked with knowledge about significant others, and each linkage embodies a self-other relationship. Mental representations of significant others are activated and used in interpersonal encounters in the social-cognitive phenomenon of transference (S. M. Andersen & N. S. Glassman, 1996), and this evokes the relational self. Variability in relational selves depends on interpersonal contextual cues, whereas stability derives from the chronic accessibility of significant-other representations. Relational selves function in if-then terms (W. Mischel & Y. Shoda, 1995), in which ifs are situations triggering transference, and thens are relational selves. An individual's repertoire of relational selves is a source of interpersonal patterns involving affect, motivation, self-evaluation, and self-regulation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Empathy, self-esteem, and birth order.

An experiment to measure empathy following induced identification. Empathy is defined as sharing the presumed feelings of someone with whom you have similarity. ? of 132 lower division college students were arbitrarily assigned an attribute of nonfunctional similarity (having worked on similar tasks) with a paid model. The other ? were treated differently only in this respect. ? the Ss under each of these conditions were exposed to the model's public success, the other ? to the model's public failure. Simultaneously, a 2nd measure of palmar sweat was taken. Retrospective reports of anxiety were then obtained. Anticipated differential palmar sweating among the 4 conditions was not observed. Self-reports indicated empathy when the model was similar, p     

The interpersonal consequences of inflated self-esteem in an inpatient psychiatric youth sample.

This study tested R. F. Baumeister, L. Smart, and J. M. Boden's (1996) theory of inflated self-esteem with an inpatient psychiatric youth sample. Participants were assessed on their self-reported self-esteem, self-reported interpersonal problems, and peer rejection (measured by evaluations from 3 or 4 peers). Consistent with the hypotheses, those with low self-esteem reported the most interpersonal problems, followed consecutively by the moderate self-esteem group and then the high self-esteem group, who reported the fewest interpersonal problems. Also in line with the hypotheses, those with low and high self-esteem were rejected by their peers when compared with the moderate self-esteem group. Thus, the high self-esteem group was rejected by their peers but did not themselves report interpersonal problems. These findings provide further support for Baumeister et al.'s theory and generalize the theory to a clinical setting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship between self-esteem and sensory (perceptual) constancy.

This study explored the relationship between self-esteem and sensory constancy, as measured by the perception of shape. 85 preadolescent males, representing 5 types of self-esteem, were individually asked to match a geometric shape with 1 of a graded series of rectangles. The procedure was intended to elicit judgments in accord with sensory rather than phenomenal constancy. These judgments were obtained under stress and nonstress orientations. The results, indicating that persons high in their estimates of personal worth are better able to attain sensory constancy, were limited to the stress condition. It is hypothesized that persons high in self-esteem can adapt more appropriately to instructions and adopt an analytic attitude excluding distracting stimuli. (20 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Significant others and contingencies of self-worth: Activation and consequences of relationship-specific contingencies of self-worth.

Three studies tested the activation and consequences of contingencies of self-worth associated with specific significant others, that is, relationship-specific contingencies of self-worth. The results showed that activating the mental representation of a significant other with whom one strongly desires closeness led participants to stake their self-esteem in domains in which the significant other wanted them to excel. This was shown in terms of self-reported contingencies of self-worth (Study 1), in terms of self-worth after receiving feedback on a successful or unsatisfactory performance in a relationship-specific contingency domain (Study 2), and in terms of feelings of reduced self-worth after thinking about a failure in a relationship-specific contingency domain (Study 3). Across studies, a variety of contingency domains were examined. Furthermore, Study 3 showed that failing in an activated relationship-specific contingency domain had negative implications for current feelings of closeness and acceptance in the significant-other relationship. Overall, the findings suggest that people’s contingencies of self-worth depend on the social situation and that performance in relationship-specific contingency domains can influence people’s perceptions of their relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Putting the Partner Within Reach: A Dyadic Perspective on Felt Security in Close Relationships.

The authors argue that felt insecurity in a partner's positive regard and caring stems from a specifically dyadic perception--the perception that a partner is out of one's league. A cross-sectional sample of dating couples revealed that people with low self-esteem feel inferior to their partner and that such feelings of relative inferiority undermine felt security in the partner's regard. Three experiments examined the consequences of reducing such perceived discrepancies by pointing to either strengths in the self or flaws in the partner. Low, but not high, self-esteem participants reacted to new strengths in the self or faults in the partner by reporting greater felt security in their specific partner's positive regard and commitment and more positive, general feelings about their own interpersonal worth. Thus, putting the partner more within the psychological grasp of low self-esteem people may effectively increase felt security in the partner's regard. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The relational self: Theoretical convergences in psychoanalysis and social psychology.

Reviews the book, The relational self: Theoretical convergences in psychoanalysis and social psychology edited by Rebecca C. Curtis (see record 1991-97680-000). The relational self, a collection of papers from a conference held at Adelphi University in 1990, represents the latest attempt at rapprochement between psychoanalysis and social/personality psychology. The core unifying theme in this new effort at integration is the relational self. The dialectical relation between the self and environment is well illustrated by four essays devoted to current perspectives from social psychology. Several other essays provide the reader with a glimpse of the richness and vitality in current research on the self. I see no easy way of reconciling the two underlying research traditions, which differ not only in their methods and aims but also in the basic language used to describe human experiences. Perhaps in these postmodern times, there is no urgent need to stretch paradigms in the quest for unity of science. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Similarity of performance as influenced by interaction, self-esteem, and birth order.

"This study concerns the relationship between the amount of interaction between two persons in a group and the acquisition by one of the persons of an attribute of the other. It is hypothesized that the greater the interaction between the two, the more will one acquire an attribute of the other… . Twenty groups of six subjects each (all college students) were formed to carry out a word assembly task so arranged that one of the six would be the center of the interaction." The findings were that similarity to the performance of the central figure was noted for the groups in general. Even more so, the factors of degree of prior attraction to the central figure, degree of prior acquaintance among Ss, S's self-esteem, and S's order of birth in their family influence the experimental behavior. Low attraction, minimal prior acquaintance among Ss, higher self-esteem, and those born later in the sibling series facilitated S's performance in the task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depressive symptoms and mechanisms of relational turbulence as predictors of relationship satisfaction among returning service members.

In contrast to romanticized portrayals of reunion after deployment, U.S. military personnel may contend with the harsh reality of both depressive symptoms and upheaval in their romantic relationships during the postdeployment transition. This study employed the relational turbulence model to evaluate mechanisms linking depressive symptoms with relationship satisfaction. Cross-sectional, self-report data were collected from 220 service members living in 27 states who had returned home from deployment within the past six months. As hypothesized, the negative association between depressive symptoms and relationship satisfaction was mediated by relational uncertainty and interference from partners. These findings advance scholarship on depressive symptoms and relational turbulence, and they also suggest guidelines for helping service members with depressive symptoms maintain satisfying romantic relationships upon reentry. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Blowing in the (social) wind: Implications of extrinsic esteem contingencies for terror management and health.

In 4 studies, the role of extrinsic esteem contingencies in adjusting to shifting health-relevant standards when managing existential fears was examined. Study 1 demonstrated that after reminders of death, higher dispositional focus on extrinsic self-esteem contingencies predicted greater interest in tanning. Using a more domain-specific approach, Study 2 showed that, after being reminded of death, the more individuals smoke for social esteem reasons, the more compelling they find an antismoking commercial that exposes adverse social consequences of smoking. Study 3 explored how situational factors (i.e., priming a contingent relational schema) that implicate extrinsic contingencies facilitated the impact of shifting standard primes on tanning intentions after mortality salience. Finally, Study 4 found that mortality salience led to increased endorsement of exercise as a basis of self-worth when participants who derive self-esteem from extrinsic sources visualized someone who exercises. Together, these studies demonstrate that reminders of death interact with prevalent social standards to influence everyday health decisions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review essay: Narcissism and the interpersonal self.

Interpersonal approaches to the concept of a core self are explored in a review of Narcissism and the interpersonal self (John Fiscalini and Alan Grey, Editors) (see record 1993-97836-000). The role of self as system and self as identity--both the interpersonal, adaptive self and the personal, core self--is used to understand the evolution of the Interpersonal School and its varied approaches to narcissism. A formulation integrating subjectively and objectively based models is proposed whereby the "core" self may be understood as the totality and integrity between internal, personal self and reflected, interpersonal self. Narcissism involves an alienation of the reflected self from the inner self, which leads to a particular set of dynamics to regulate self-esteem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential effects of ego threat upon persuasibility for high and low self-esteem subjects.

A conceptual model of persuasibility is presented, based upon its relationship to self-esteem and defense mechanism preference. An experiment designed to test some deductions from the model is reported, in which it is hypothesized that an experience of failure in the performance of a need-related behavior will decrease persuasibility for high self-esteem Ss and increase persuasibility for lows. Male VA domiciliary residents were divided into 4 groups, consisting of high or low self-esteem persons receiving failure treatment or no treatment immediately prior to a test of persuasibility. The predicted interaction effect between levels of self-esteem and experimental conditions upon persuasibility scores was considered supported. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Top-down contingencies in peripheral cuing: The roles of color and location.

According to contingent-processing accounts, peripheral cuing effects are due to the cues' inadvertent selection for processing by control settings set up for targets (e.g., C. L. Folk, R. W. Remington, & J. C. Johnston, 1992). Consequently, cues similar to targets should have stronger effects than do dissimilar cues. In the current study, this prediction is confirmed for cue-target combinations similar or dissimilar in the static features of color (Experiments 1-3) and location (Experiment 4), even when both cues and targets share the dynamic feature of abrupt onset. Perceptual priming (Experiment 2) and reallocation of attention did not account for similar-dissimilar differences (Experiments 3 and 4). The results are best explained by top-down-contingent attentional effects of the similar cues. Implications for bottom-up accounts of peripheral cuing effects are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)