SOCIAL EFFECTS OF THREATS TO SELF

Dartmouth College, Hanover NH

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Abstract

DESCRIPTION (adapted from investigator's abstract): This research explores the basic dynamics of the effect of self-esteem and threat on social evaluation. Recent evidence suggests that individuals with high self-esteem may have interpersonal and self-regulatory difficulties when self-image is threatened or challenged. Three preliminary laboratory studies are described demonstrating that dyadic interaction partners negatively evaluate high self-esteem targets who have received an ego threat. By contrast, those with low self-esteem are evaluated more positively following an ego threat. The proposed studies explore the interpersonal consequences of having high or low self-esteem, especially under conditions of threat. The first series consists of four laboratory studies that examine the interpersonal context of this asymmetric evaluative pattern. The questions addressed include: How are people behaving in the dyadic interactions (verbally and nonverbally)? What role does the rater's self-esteem play? Is this asymmetric liking effect limited to strangers? Is this effect limited to an intimacy task? Studies in the second series examine the motivational basis of interpersonal evaluation following ego threat. The general proposition is that people with low self-esteem focus on affirming social bonds whereas people with low self-esteem affirm personal competence. These motivational differences have social consequences such that low self-esteem individuals act in ways that lead people to like them whereas high self-esteem individuals act in ways that lead people to dislike them. Three studies assess the sort of information people are motivated to obtain, their memory for dyad partners, and the extent they expect to be accepted or rejected. The third series tries to directly test the proposed mediators of the asymmetrical liking pattern. Questions asked in this series include: Does ego threat change degree of self-focus? Does ego threat lead to differential patterns of interpersonal comparisons? Do the effects of self-esteem in comparisons and self-focus correlate with evaluations made by raters? The final series considers the possibility that the putative negative consequences of high self-esteem are due primarily to defensive or fluctuating self-esteem. Measures of implicit self-esteem and self-esteem stability are collected to examine their role in interpersonal evaluation. Considered together, there studies will provide important information regarding the interpersonal consequences of having high or low self-esteem, especially under situations that involve ego threat.