does self threat promote social connection
TRANSCRIPT
Psychology Of Group Dynamics
DPSD2 0903A
18 Jan 2010
1)Overview Of Studies
2)Study 1
3)Study2
4)Study3
5)Study4
6)Study 5
7)Study 6
8)Limitations
9)Recommendations
10)Conclusion
11)The End
Identifying the motivational consequences of experiencing a
threat to the domain of contingent self-worth.
Examine whether initial social motives differed for people with
high self-esteem vs. low self-esteem.
Hypothesized that HSE appearance contingent participants
would express greater desire for social contact with close others
following self threat while LSE avoid any forms of affiliation.
Expected the combination of trait self-esteem and appearance
contingency of self-worth would shape responses to self-threat.
Thus in each study there are three-way interactions between
experimental manipulations of appearance threat, train self-
esteem and appearance contingency of self-worth.
Objective:
• Tested the hypothesis of HSE & LSE appearance-
contingent, how these 2 groups of people would respond to an
appearance threat
HSE- Expected to want to affiliate with close others
LSE- Would want to avoid other people
Methods:
• Participants & procedure
100 graduate students (66 women, 34 men)
Participants were put in private cubicles to answer
questionnaires
They are then assigned to 1 of 2 experimental
conditions
1. Appearance threat condition
2. Control condition
• Appearance threat condition
Participants were ordered pen down their flaws in self, namely
their physical or body appearance which made them feel insecure
or dissatisfied.
• Control condition
Participants were told to observe the objects around the room
where they are seated, think about all of it and again, list it down
in a piece of paper provided.
Afterwards, they indicated their desire to engage in various
activities with close others. Participants were debriefed and
Results & Discussions
• To probe significant interactions, they tested simple effect of
appearance CSW in the threat & control conditions among
participants with HSE vs. LSE.
• Gender, race age were included as covariates in all studies.
• As expected, HSE participants wants to affiliate more with close
others and the otherwise for LSE.
• The CSW for HSE is so much higher while for LSE, there were
no effect observed.
• To sum it up, these study provides preliminary support for the
hypothesis that threat to a domain of contingent self-worth leads
to divergent social motivation for people with HSE vs. LSE.
Objective:
• The use of a more powerful threat manipulation
Participants wrote an essay about dissatisfying appearance,
rather than just the negatives
Elucidate the psychological mechanism which triggers
appearance threats
Use of priming manipulations to satiate the desire either self-
esteem or social belongings
Method
• Participants & procedures 123 students (86 women, 37 men)
Seated in a private cubicle, as it is in study 1
Student wrote essays on the physical/body/face that they do not
like about themselves
•After the essay writing, students were provided with instructions
that varied on experimental conditions :
1. Neutral
2. Self-affirmation
3. Close relationship prime
• Neutral prime condition
List objects in the room
• Self affirmation prime condition
List general strengths
• Close relationship prime condition
Wrote down initials of the one who love them unconditionally &
those who they could turn to in times of needs
Results and Discussions
• After writing about the dissatisfying aspect of their appearance,
HSE appearance contingent showed greater desire to want to
affiliate with close others & LSE wanted to avoid any contact.
• Responses were eliminated. However, needs for self-esteem
and sense of belonging were temporarily satisfied.
• Results were consistent with the hypothesis that the responses
of appearance-contingent HSE & LSE participants reflect
responses to perceive threat- Not just self-esteem but
belongings as well.
Objective:•Study 3 has used a more direct and controlled manipulation
of appearance threat:
Participants receiving feedback from fellow participants.
•Includes a more rigorous control condition, which is
a threat to intelligence & intellectual competence, to
rule out the possibility that any negative feedback, as
opposed to feedback related specifically to
appearance, would produce equivalent effects.
Hypothesis of
Researcher:• Conforming with the previous findings, it was
expected that HSE appearance-contingent
participants would covet conjunction with close
others adhering negative appearance
feedback, but not negative competence
feedback. In contrast, it was expected that LSE
appearance-contingent participants would want
to avoid conjunction with close others adhering
negative appearance feedback and not following
competence feedback.
Method: Participants & Procedure:1) 68 participants .
2) 1 participant had suspected the feedback, so the final sample
consisted of 67 participants. (33 Females,34 Males)
3) Participants were brought together.
4) The experimenter then left the room so participants could
converse freely with each other for 10 minutes.
5) Next, the experimenter collected the forms and administered
the randomly assigned manipulation to each participant
individually.
Results & Discussions:1. Results revealed only the predicted 3-way interaction between
Self-esteem, Appearance CSW, and Condition .
2. Among HSE participants in the appearance threat
condition, having high appearance CSW was related to greater
desire to be with close others .
3. Among LSE participants in the appearance threat
condition, having high appearance CSW was associated with
less desire to engage in activities with close others.
4. However, researchers had found an effect of appearance CSW
among HSE participants in the negative competence feedback
condition (i.e., high appearance CSW was associated with less
desire for social contact).
Objective:
• Examined whether the desire to be close to others would extend
into wanting to be with them.
• HSE- Expected to have increased desire to affiliate with close
other.
• LSE- expected to avoid contact with both close and people in
general as they perceived as a potential sources of rejection &
negative evaluation.
• Added control variables: Social anxiety and neuroticism.
Method:
• 65 participants (47 women, 18 men)
• Participants were told to write on the experience in relief by
describing the situation where they hated how the appear to look
like- Appearance threat condition
• Participants were instructed to drive or walk to school and
afterwards account their feelings and thoughts
Discussion
• HSE participants turn to close others rather than people in
general because they are less familiar than close others and less
likely to perceive as sources of reassurance.
• LSE avoided any form of contact.
• It is also observed that, in the control condition appearance CSW
was associated with greater desire to be with other people.
• This consistent with prior research showing that
general, appearance SW is associated with greater time spent
socializing.
Objectives:
• LSE contingent individuals were expected to show
increased desire to engage in appearance-boosting
activities.
• Improve their attractiveness
• People with HSE are generally satisfied with their
appearance
Method:• 76 participants (42 women, 31 men, 3 unspecified).
• Seated at separate cubicles
• RSE and appearance CSW scales
• Randomly assigned to write an essay
• They indicated their desire (1=not all to 7=very much)
• Then debriefed and dismissed
Results :• Observed a main effect of appearance
• The predicted three-way interaction
• Pattern was not observed
• Predicted HSE participants to have greater desire to
engage in appearance activities
• Overall results was……
• Gender did not make a difference
Discussion:
• LSE participants engaged in appearance-boosting activities
• Improve attractiveness• No direct or extensive contact with other people• Desires: Diet or read fashion magazine Alone, no involvement of interpersonal risk• Safe to receive a compliment about one’s appearance• Physically attractive is closely linked to interpersonal
liking and social acceptance
Discussion:
• Not only it will increase self-esteem but also social belonging .(LSE people)
• Unexpected finding from the HSE appearance-contingent .
• People with HSE perceived themselves as attractive and likable.
• HSE appearance-contingent individuals may serve to maintain their already favorable self-perceptions of attractiveness and likeability.
• No increase to their sense of attractiveness for people with HSE.
Objectives:
To examine participants desire to engage in
appearance-boosting activities.
Using a more controlled threat. (similar to study 3)
Expected that LSE participants would show greater
motivation.
Method:
48 participants (24 women, 24 men) 1 female and 1 male in each session. Seated in separate rooms. Purpose of study was to…… They were brought together and then brought to
separate rooms again. Randomly assigned for either positive or negative
feedback. Manipulation checks and reported their desire to engage
in appearance activities. Debriefed and dismissed.
Results:• Effects of self-esteem, appearance CSW and
experimental condition, controlling for demographic variables and vanity .
Extension of findings of Study 5.
Key finding was the same:
LSE participants show greater interest in engaging appearance-boosting activities when their sense of physical attractiveness was threatened.
Desire may reflect a way of enhancing the self.
1. Aim of this research was to identify the immediate
motivational consequences of experiencing a threat to a
domain of contingent self-worth, and to examine how
these motivational consequences differed for people with
HSE versus LSE. Accordingly, the dependent measures
used captured a relatively direct, early-in-the-stream
portrayal of people’s motivations.
2. The studies reported here used relatively controlled and
unambiguous forms of self-threat.
1. Another limitation pertains to the generalizability of
the current findings.
2. Another interpretation, however, is that the
competence feedback .
1) Future studies should examine the extent to which
participants’ initial motivations lead to strategic behaviors
aimed at social acceptance and self-enhancement.
2) Future research might profitably examine whether self-
esteem and contingencies of self-worth shape people’s
tendency to view ambiguous social events as posing
particular kinds of threats.
3) Future studies would benefit from examining whether the
specific domain on which people stake their self-worth has
implications for the manner in which they cope with threat.
Threats to the intellective self may motivate endeavors to
restore one’s self-regard and sense of social belonging
(MacDonald & Leary, 2005). People with HSE, who tend to
feel positively regarded by others, responded to self-threat
in a socially optimistic fashion, by seeking to affiliate
directly with others as potential sources of reassurance and
affirmation. In contrast, people with LSE, who tend to feel
less positively regarded by others, responded in a socially
cautious manner, by seeking to withdraw from others and to
redress personal savors perceived to be deficient (i.e., by
enhancing their attractiveness).
Done by: Lithya Krishna
Edora Mayangsari
Chermaine Ng