Mental Time Travel as Self-Affirmation

ACADEMIC ABSTRACT

This article integrates and advances the scope of research on the role of mental time travel in bolstering the self. We propose that imagining the self in the future (prospection) or in the past (retrospection) highlights central and positive self-aspects. Thus, bringing to mind one's future or past broadens the perceived bases of self-integrity and offers a route to self-affirmation. In reviewing corresponding research programs on self-prospection and nostalgia, we illustrate that mental time travel serves to affirm the self in terms of self-esteem, coherence, and control. Mental time travel could be implemented as a source of self-affirmation for facilitating coping and behavior change in several domains such as relationships, health, education, and organizational contexts.

PUBLIC ABSTRACT

People can mentally travel to their future or to their past. When people imagine what they will be like in the future, or what they were like in the past, they tend to think about themselves in terms of the important and positive attributes that they possess. Thinking about themselves in such an affirming way expands and consolidates their self-views. This broader image of themselves can increase self-esteem (the extent to which one likes who they are), coherence (the extent to which one perceives life as meaningful), and control (the extent to which one feels capable of initiating and pursuing goals or effecting desirable outcomes). Mental time travel, then, has favorable or affirming consequences for one's self-views. These consequences can be harnessed to modify one's behavior in such life domains as relationships, health, education, and work.

Self-esteem buffers the stress sensitizing effect of childhood maltreatment on adolescent nonsuicidal self-injury

BACKGROUND

Adversity in childhood increases the risk of psychopathology, perhaps by influencing sensitivity to recent stressful life events (SLEs). However, little is known about the stress-sensitizing effect of childhood adversity on nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), whether stress sensitization exists in specific types of SLEs, and the stress-buffering effect of self-esteem. This study aimed to investigate whether exposure to child maltreatment increases adolescent's vulnerability to the effects of dependent and independent SLEs on later NSSI and whether self-esteem buffers this risk.

METHODS

We conducted a two-wave study with 18-month intervals. 601 Chinese adolescents completed self-report measures of child maltreatment, SLEs, self-esteem, and NSSI.

RESULTS

Results supported the stress sensitization hypothesis for child maltreatment regarding dependent SLEs, with dependent SLEs significantly predicting later NSSI only in maltreated adolescents. Moreover, self-esteem buffered the relationship between dependent SLEs and NSSI in maltreated adolescents but amplified the relationship in non-maltreated adolescents. In the maltreated group, dependent SLEs predicted increased NSSI only in those with low self-esteem. In contrast, in the control group, dependent SLEs were significantly associated with NSSI in individuals with high self-esteem.

LIMITATIONS

We did not collect information on the timing of exposure to child maltreatment. Future studies that assess child maltreatment during critical periods of development may be able to identify sensitive period in which maltreatment sensitizes individuals to stress in adolescents.

CONCLUSION

Findings provide preliminary evidence that child maltreatment has a stress-sensitizing effect on adolescent NSSI. Improving self-esteem may mitigate the associations between SLEs and NSSI in adolescents exposed to child maltreatment.

Deleterious effects of unchosen solitude on adolescents' mental and social health: The moderating role of self-esteem

Can self-esteem reduce the deleterious effects of solitude on adolescents' mental and social health? Solitude is twofold because it can be chosen (self-determined) or forced (not self-determined). When it is not a chosen behavior (e.g., social ignorance, exclusion, or fear of others' judgment), individuals experience higher levels of anxiety and depression and feel the deleterious effects of loneliness more. On the other hand, the level of self-esteem relates positively to lower levels of anxiety and depression as well as to good social relationships. We hypothesized that self-esteem moderates the effects of unchosen solitude. Eighty high school students participated in this study by filling out a self-report booklet of questionnaires. We first examine the links between unchosen solitude and anxiety, depression, loneliness, hopelessness, and quality of the connection to family and peers; next, we examine the moderating role of self-esteem in these links. Regression analyses confirm the classic negative effect of not-self-determined solitude on the health outcomes considered, and moderation analyses show that a good level of self-esteem decreases this effect, at least on depression, hopelessness, and connection to peers. We suggest further studies to complete and refine these results and propose to assess more systematically the adolescents' self-esteem and to reinforce it to prevent negative mental and social health outcomes.

The role of self-compassion and its individual components in adaptive responses to dietary lapses

Dietary lapses (i.e., instances of dietary non-adherence) are common during weight loss attempts, and compromise success in two ways: increasing caloric intake and demoralizing the participant, sometimes leading them to abandon their weight control goals altogether. Efforts to understand and prevent demoralization have received almost no research attention. Self-compassion has high potential to promote adaptive responses to these setbacks because it reframes "failure" and promotes self-improvement. Past research shows that when participants experience a lapse, those practicing higher self-compassion report higher self-efficacy and intentions to continue dieting. The current study extended this literature to examine whether self-compassion in response to a lapse would predict lower likelihood of a subsequent same-day lapse and greater reports of perceived control over weight management behaviors. We also examined whether the individual facets of self-compassion, including self-kindness (treating oneself the way one would a friend); common humanity (the understanding that everyone has struggles); and mindfulness (non-judgmental awareness of thoughts and feelings) are associated with these outcomes. Participants (N = 140) enrolled in a behavioral weight loss trial completed 6 ecological momentary assessment (EMA) surveys a day for seven days. Total self-compassion and each facet of self-compassion individually were all associated with less negative affect after a lapse. None of the self-compassion variables predicted the likelihood of participants reporting a lapse again that day. However, higher total self-compassion and higher self-kindness after a lapse were both associated with greater perceived self-control over weight management behaviors in the hours following. Common humanity and mindfulness, respectively, were not associated with reports of perceived control. Results suggest that self-compassion following dieting setbacks may prevent goal disengagement, and that self-kindness is the facet most strongly associated with adaptive responses to these setbacks.

When Is Masculinity "Fragile"? An Expectancy-Discrepancy-Threat Model of Masculine Identity

ACADEMIC ABSTRACT

Manhood is a precarious social status. Under perceived gender identity threat, men are disproportionately likely to enact certain stereotype-consistent responses such as aggression to maintain their gender status. Yet less is known regarding individual variation in men's threat responsiveness-that is, the psychological conditions under which one's masculine identity is more or less "fragile." We propose a novel model of masculine identity whereby masculine norm expectancy generates discrepancy within the self to the extent that rigid norms are internalized as obligational (actual-ought discrepancy) versus aspirational (actual-ideal discrepancy), which predict extrinsic versus intrinsic motivations to reduce these discrepancies, respectively. Under threat, then, extrinsic motivations predict externalized responses (e.g., aggression), and intrinsic motivations elicit internalized responses (e.g., anxiety, shame, self-harm). We also consider the conditions under which masculinity may be less fragile-for example, in contexts with less rigid expectations and among men who reject expectations-as pathways to mitigate adverse masculinity threat-related outcomes.

PUBLIC ABSTRACT

In many cultures, men prove their manhood by engaging in behaviors that harm themselves and others (e.g., violence, sexism, homophobia), particularly people from marginalized groups. Yet less is known about why some men are more likely than others to enact these masculinity-proving behaviors. The goal of our model is to specify certain conditions under which masculinities become "fragile" and elicit these responses when under threat. We start by describing the rigid expectations men experience-for example, that they are strong and tough. We propose that these expectations cause men to experience different forms of discrepancy within themselves that produce corresponding motivations to reduce these discrepancies. Under threat, motivations driven by others' expectations elicit outward attempts to restore masculine status (e.g., aggression), whereas motivations driven by self-ideals cause internalized responses (e.g., shame, self-harm). We conclude by discussing how to reduce these discrepancies, such as mitigating the rigidity of and encouraging men's resistance to masculinity expectations.

The item position effects in international examinations: the roles of gender

The goal of the present study was to evaluate the roles of item position in terms of item difficulty levels in the assessment of aptitude. Using data from a National Examination in Saudi Arabia, the item position effect was evaluated as a teacher licensure test (GTLT) was administered using five different forms with the same items appearing in a different order. Results indicated minuscule in magnitude position effects estimates, overall, with initially 11.1% of the tests being significant but all of them failing to reach significance using the Holm-Bonferroni's and Sidak corrective procedures. With regard to gender, item position effects emerged in 47.6% of the tests after adjusting the level of significance using the Sidak correction. Interestingly, the direction of effect was consistent so that in 87% of the significant gender comparisons, item position effects were in the direction where females were spending more time on items when they appeared in later positions on the test compared to males. Assuming that items appearing later on the test are likely more difficult, the present findings suggest a profile of deep processing and active engagement in females when facing achievement tests.

Unveiling the influence of the Italian mafia as a Dark Triad threat on individuals' affective states and the power of defense mechanisms

The present research investigated whether the Italian mafia as a Dark Triad threat increased threat-related affective states and explored how thinking about defense mechanisms may help to reduce these states. For this, we conducted a multi-method experimental study with Italians (N = 253). The quantitative results show that the mafia as a threat manipulation increased threat-related affective states in terms of higher behavioral inhibition (BIS) and lower behavioral activation (BAS). The qualitative results further depict proximal and distal defense mechanisms to reduce this threat, which can be categorized into models of threat and defense. Exploratory analyses indicate that naming distal defenses positively affected the increase of BAS. Additionally, when participants had higher levels of BIS after the threat, naming more defenses and proximal defenses positively affected the decrease of BIS. Further qualitative results provide valuable information on effective personal and societal buffers for the perceived threat of the Italian mafia.

A boost in self-esteem after positive social evaluation predicts social and non-social learning

Fluctuations in self-esteem resulting from social acceptance and rejection could guide social behaviour by putting us in a state that is more or less open to social experiences. However, it remains unclear whether social acceptance and rejection may shape learning from social information depending on individual differences in self-esteem changes. Here we used a social feedback paradigm to manipulate social acceptance and rejection in a between-subjects design. Subsequently, we administered a behavioural task that enables the assessment of how well individuals learn on the basis of own experiences versus social information. Participants receiving positive (N = 43) versus negative (N = 44) social evaluation demonstrated an increase in subjective self-esteem. Importantly, the effect of the social evaluation on social learning was moderated by self-esteem changes. Specifically, an increase in self-esteem, as induced by positive evaluation, was associated with increased learning from social, but decreased learning from individual information. A decrease in self-esteem in response to negative evaluation was associated with decreased learning from individual information. These data suggest that increases in self-esteem in response to positive evaluation can induce a shift in the inclination to use social versus non-social information and may open one up to constructive learning from others.

Self-esteem influences the willingness to engage in COVID-19 prevention behavior and persuasion efficacy

RATIONALE

Behaviors such as hand-washing and vaccination save human lives during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Yet, people differ widely in their willingness to engage in them. This investigation examines whether people's willingness to protect themselves physically from contracting coronavirus depends on their self-esteem. Based on self-verification theory, we propose that people who hold negative self-views are less motivated to protect their health which reduces their willingness to engage in recommended preventive measures such as mask-wearing and social-distancing.

OBJECTIVE

We set out to test (i) whether self-esteem predicts people's willingness to engage in COVID-19 prevention behaviors, (ii) whether this relationship is due to variance in motivation to protect one's health (as well as alternative mechanisms), and (iii) whether health messages can more successfully persuade low self-esteem people to follow preventive measures by framing those behaviors around protecting the health of others (vs. oneself).

METHODS

Four studies were conducted with U.S. and German residents. In Study 1, we examine the association between self-esteem, willingness to engage in self-protection behavior, health motivation, and several alternative accounts. In Study 2, we manipulate state self-esteem, and in Studies 3 and 4, we vary the target of COVID-19 prevention behaviors (self vs. other).

RESULTS

People with chronic or temporarily induced low self-esteem report a lower willingness to engage in COVID-19 prevention behaviors because they lack motivation to protect their health. Varying the protection target of preventive behaviors (self vs. others) interacts with self-esteem: Low self-esteem people are more willing to follow preventive measures (e.g., vaccination) when they are framed as protecting others (vs. oneself).

CONCLUSIONS

Self-esteem impacts people's behavior during a global pandemic and needs to be considered when designing health communications. Public health messages can increase compliance among individuals with lower self-esteem by framing prevention behaviors as a way to protect the health of others.

Self-enhancement and physical health: A meta-analysis

A prior meta-analysis yielded a positive relation between self-enhancement and psychological health. This article presents the first meta-analysis of the association between self-enhancement and physical health (k = 87; N = 22,415). The meta-analysis relied predominantly on social desirability as an operationalization of self-enhancement and secondarily on comparative judgement and narcissism. Further, the meta-analysis operationalized physical health in terms of self-rated health, symptoms and biomarkers. Overall, self-enhancement yielded a near-zero association with physical health, r = .01. However, this association was more pronounced for comparative judgement (r = .18, k = 6) than social desirability (r = .03, k = 41) or narcissism (r = -.0001, k = 8), and for self-rated health (r = .09, k = 9) than symptoms (r = .01, k = 29) or biomarkers (r = -.13, k = 17). The association between self-enhancement and physical health fluctuates across measures of both constructs calling for more focussed and nuanced investigations.

The impact of current failures on predicted well-being for future success: Different mechanisms of action in high and low self-threat situations

This study explored the effect of current performance on the predicted well-being for future success and its mechanism. This empirical research consists of two experiments. In Study 1, the individual's predicted well-being of future performance in the tests was lower in good feedback condition compared with bad feedback condition. It means that individuals have a higher expectation of future success after an unimportant loss. Study 2 focused on the moderating role of self-threat situations and the mediating role of affect and self-esteem in the effect of current performance feedback on predicted well-being. The results showed that individuals who got bad feedback have a low predicted well-being of future success only in a high self-threatening condition. Self-threat plays a moderating role between current performance and predicted well-being. The serial mediation role of affect and self-esteem in the negative effect of current performance on predicted well-being holds in high self-threat situations. By specifying the behavioral consequences and analyzing the psychological process in high and low self-threat situations, this research expands the literature on development of appropriate cognitive theories and propose novel measures and practical implications of enhancing predicted well-being.

Goal Derailment and Goal Persistence in Response to Honor Threats

In honor cultures, maintaining a positive moral reputation (e.g., being known as an honest person) is highly important, whereas in dignity cultures, self-respect (e.g., competence and success) is strongly emphasized. Depending on their cultural background, people respond differently to threats to these two dimensions of honor. In two studies, we examined the effects of morality-focused and competence-focused threats on people’s goal pursuit in two honor cultures (Turkey, Southern United States, and Latinx) and in a dignity culture (Northern United States). In Study 1, Turkish participants were more likely to reject a highly qualified person as a partner in a future task if that person threatened their morality (vs. no-threat), even though this meant letting go of the goal of winning an award. Participants from the U.S. honor and dignity groups, however, were equally likely to choose the people who gave them threatening and neutral feedback. In Study 2, Turkish and U.S. honor participants were more likely to persist in a subsequent goal after receiving a morality threat (vs. no-threat), whereas U.S. dignity participants were more likely to persist in a subsequent goal after receiving a competence threat (vs. no-threat). These results show that people’s responses to honor threats are influenced by the dominant values of their culture and by the tools that are available to them to potentially restore their reputation (e.g., punishing the offender vs. working hard on a different task). This research can have implications for multicultural contexts in which people can have conflicting goals such as diverse work environments.

Associations of parent-adolescent relationship and self-esteem with emotional and behavioral problems among Chinese adolescents

BACKGROUND

This study aimed at exploring the associations of parent-adolescent relationship and self-esteem with emotional and behavioral problems (EBPs) among Chinese adolescents using a large-scale nationally questionnaire survey data from China.

METHODS

Obtained from China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) 2018, the research data involved 2400 adolescents aged 10-15. Multiple linear regression analysis and the PROCESS macro were used for examining the mediating effect of self-esteem on the associations of parent-adolescent relationship with EBPs.

RESULTS

After controlling the potential confounding factors, parent-adolescent relationship and self-esteem were significantly associated with EBPs (P < 0.01). Correlation analysis results showed that parent-adolescent relationship (r = -0.116, P < 0.01) and self-esteem (r = -0.209, P < 0.01) were negatively correlated with EBPs. Self-esteem partially mediated the associations of parent-adolescent relationship with EBPs among Chinese adolescents.

LIMITATIONS

The cross-sectional design limited the ability to make causal inferences.

CONCLUSIONS

Positive parent-adolescent relationship and high self-esteem contributed to fewer EBPs of adolescents. Parent-adolescent relationship predicted EBPs partially mediated by self-esteem. Establishing positive parent-adolescent relationship and improving individual self-esteem may thus be promising targets for intervention in adolescents with EBPs.

Do Salient Social Norms Moderate Mortality Salience Effects? A (Challenging) Meta-Analysis of Terror Management Studies

Terror management theory postulates that mortality salience (MS) increases the motivation to defend one's cultural worldviews. How that motivation is expressed may depend on the social norm that is momentarily salient. Meta-analyses were conducted on studies that manipulated MS and social norm salience. Results based on 64 effect sizes for the hypothesized interaction between MS and norm salience revealed a small-to-medium effect of g = 0.34, 95% confidence interval [0.26, 0.41]. Bias-adjustment techniques suggested the presence of publication bias and/or the exploitation of researcher degrees of freedom and arrived at smaller effect size estimates for the hypothesized interaction, in several cases reducing the effect to nonsignificance (range g_corrected = -0.36 to 0.15). To increase confidence in the idea that MS and norm salience interact to influence behavior, preregistered, high-powered experiments using validated norm salience manipulations are necessary. Concomitantly, more specific theorizing is needed to identify reliable boundary conditions of the effect.

Adolescents' affective and neural responses to parental praise and criticism

Social feedback from parents has a profound impact on the development of a child's self-concept. Yet, little is known about adolescents' affective and neural responses to parental social feedback, such as criticism or praise. Adolescents (n = 63) received standardized social feedback supposedly provided by their mother or father in the form of appraisals about their personality (e.g., 'respectful', 'lazy') during fMRI scanning. After each feedback word, adolescents reported their mood. Additionally, adolescents had rated whether feedback words matched their self-views on an earlier occasion. In line with preregistered hypotheses, negative parental feedback worsened adolescents' mood, which was exacerbated when feedback did not match adolescents' self-views. Negative feedback was associated with increased activity in the neural 'saliency network', including anterior insula, anterior cingulate cortex and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. Positive feedback improved mood and increased activity in brain regions supporting social cognition, including temporoparietal junction, posterior superior temporal sulcus, and precuneus. A more positive general self-view and perceived parental warmth were associated with elevated mood, independent of feedback valence, but did not impact neural responses. Taken together, these results enhance our understanding of adolescents' neural circuitry involved in the processing of parental praise and criticism, and the impact of parental feedback on well-being.

Learning About the Self: Motives for Coherence and Positivity Constrain Learning From Self-Relevant Social Feedback

People learn about themselves from social feedback, but desires for coherence and positivity constrain how feedback is incorporated into the self-concept. We developed a network-based model of the self-concept and embedded it in a reinforcement-learning framework to provide a computational account of how motivations shape self-learning from feedback. Participants (N = 46 adult university students) received feedback while evaluating themselves on traits drawn from a causal network of trait semantics. Network-defined communities were assigned different likelihoods of positive feedback. Participants learned from positive feedback but dismissed negative feedback, as reflected by asymmetries in computational parameters that represent the incorporation of positive versus negative outcomes. Furthermore, participants were constrained in how they incorporated feedback: Self-evaluations changed less for traits that have more implications and are thus more important to the coherence of the network. We provide a computational explanation of how motives for coherence and positivity jointly constrain learning about the self from feedback, an explanation that makes testable predictions for future clinical research.

Neural mechanisms associated with semantic and basic self-oriented memory processes interact moderating self-esteem

Individuals constantly encounter feedback from others and process this feedback in various ways to maintain positive situational state self-esteem in relation to semantic-based or trait self-esteem. Individuals may utilize episodic or semantic-driven processes that modulate feedback in two different ways to maintain general self-esteem levels. To date, it is unclear how these processes work while individuals receive social feedback to modulate state self-esteem. Utilizing neural regions associated with semantic self-oriented and basic encoding processes (medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), respectively), in addition to time-frequency and Granger causality analyses to assess mPFC and PCC interactions, this study examined how the encoding of social feedback modulated individuals' (N = 45) post-task state self-esteem in relation to their trait self-esteem. Findings highlight the dynamic interplay between mPFC and PCC that modulate state self-esteem in relation to trait self-esteem, to maintain high self-esteem in general in the moment and over time.

Neurobiological correlates of the social and emotional impact of peer victimization: A review

Peer victimization is very common during late childhood and adolescence. Despite the relatively reduced number of studies, the neurobiological underpinnings of the negative impact of peer victimization experiences have received increasing attention in recent years. The present selective review summarizes the most recent available evidence and provides a general overview of the impact of peer victimization experiences on social processing and decision-making at the neurobiological level, highlighting the most pressing areas requiring further research. Three key cognitive areas show a clear negative impact of peer victimization and bullying experiences: social valuation processing, reward and reinforcement learning and self-regulation processes. Victims show enhanced activation in key regions of the limbic system including the amygdala, rostral and dorsal anterior cingulate cortices, suggestive of enhanced sensitivity to social stimuli. They also show enhanced recruitment of lateral prefrontal regions crucially involved in cognitive and emotional regulation processes, and abnormal reward-related striatal function. The presence of psychopathology is a complex factor, increased as a consequence of peer victimization, but that also constitutes vulnerability to such experiences.

Self-beneficial belief updating as a coping mechanism for stress-induced negative affect

Being confronted with social-evaluative stress elicits a physiological and a psychological stress response. This calls for regulatory processes to manage negative affect and maintain self-related optimistic beliefs. The aim of the current study was to investigate the affect-regulating potential of self-related updating of ability beliefs after exposure to social-evaluative stress, in comparison to non-social physical stress or no stress. We assessed self-related belief updating using trial-by-trial performance feedback and described the updating behavior in a mechanistic way using computational modeling. We found that social-evaluative stress was accompanied by an increase in cortisol and negative affect which was related to a positive shift in self-related belief updating. This self-beneficial belief updating, which was absent after physical stress or control, was associated with a better recovery from stress-induced negative affect. This indicates that enhanced integration of positive self-related feedback can act as a coping strategy to deal with social-evaluative stress.

Testing a new indirect measure of general self-worth: The Self-esteem Questionnaire-based Implicit Association Test

The self-esteem Questionnaire-based Implicit Association Test (SE-qIAT) provides an indirect assessment of general self-worth that is based on the items of the well-validated Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), and the structure of this variant of the IAT enables a clearer interpretation, compared with the conventional self-esteem IAT. Study 1 (N = 224) provided support for the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and implicit-explicit convergent validity of the SE-qIAT. In Study 2 (N = 305), the correlation of the SE-qIAT with the explicit RSES was replicated, and it was larger than the correlations of the SE-qIAT with other self-reports. As to criterion validity, the SE-qIAT moderated the effect of a mild social threat (being excluded in the Cyberball game) on participants' performance in a subsequent anagram task, and this effect was incremental to the explicit self-esteem assessment. In Study 3 (N = 334), the SE-qIAT correlated positively with the self-esteem IAT and negatively with a measure of depression. The two implicit tasks correlated uniquely with each other, above and beyond the variance they each shared with the explicit RSES. Taken together, these findings provide initial support for the reliability and validity of the SE-qIAT.

Is Applied Ethics Morally Problematic?

This paper argues that applied ethics can itself be morally problematic. As illustrated by the case of Peter Singer’s criticism of social practice, morally loaded communication by applied ethicists can lead to protests, backlashes, and aggression. By reviewing the psychological literature on self-image, collective identity, and motivated reasoning three categories of morally problematic consequences of ethical criticism by applied ethicists are identified: serious psychological discomfort, moral backfiring, and hostile conflict. The most worrisome is moral backfiring: psychological research suggests that ethical criticism of people’s central moral convictions can reinforce exactly those attitudes. Therefore, applied ethicists unintentionally can contribute to a consolidation of precisely those social circumstances that they condemn to be unethical. Furthermore, I argue that the normative concerns raised in this paper are not dependent on the commitment to one specific paradigm in moral philosophy. Utilitarianism, Aristotelian virtue ethics, and Rawlsian contractarianism all provide sound reasons to take morally problematic consequences of ethical criticism seriously. Only the case of deontological ethics is less clear-cut. Finally, I point out that the issues raised in this paper provide an excellent opportunity for further interdisciplinary collaboration between applied ethics and social sciences. I also propose strategies for communicating ethics effectively.

Naïve beliefs shape emotional reactions to evaluative feedback

People are motivated to acquire self-evaluative information that favours themselves (self-enhancement) or information that confirms their present self-views (self-consistency). We proposed that participants' naïve theories characterising self-esteem as important may moderate their self-enhancement motivations. Across three samples, we demonstrated that increasing self-esteem importance causes prevention-based emotional reactions to become increasingly dependent on the favorability of feedback. We thus infer that self-enhancement motivation increases when people hold favourable beliefs about the importance of maximising self-esteem. We also replicated past findings in which people regard positive (versus negative) self-relevant information as more valid when they have high (versus low) self-esteem, revealing self-consistency. Individual differences in self-esteem importance and trait self-esteem thus play distinct roles in shaping people's enhancement and consistency motivations.

Face threat sensitivity in distributive negotiations: Effects on negotiator self-esteem and demands

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Face threat sensitivity (FTS) is reactive sensitivity to threats to self-image.

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Counterpart competitiveness reduces high FTS negotiators’ global self-esteem (GSE).

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Counterpart competitiveness reduces high FTS negotiators' performance self-esteem (PSE).

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High FTS negotiators’ reduced GSE and PSE lead them to make lower demands.

Face threat sensitivity (FTS) is defined as reactive sensitivity to threats to one’s social self-worth. In negotiations, such threats may come from a counterpart's competitive behavior. We developed and tested the argument that individuals high in face threat sensitivity, when negotiating with a competitive (vs. cooperative) counterpart, exhibit psychological responses that inhibit them from claiming value in distributive negotiations. Employing a face-to-face interaction paradigm, Study 1 revealed that higher counterpart competitiveness was negatively associated with high (but not low) FTS negotiators’ global self-esteem, which in turn led them to be less demanding and obtain worse negotiation outcomes. In Study 2, employing a simulated on-line interaction paradigm, we manipulated counterpart’s behavior (cooperative vs. competitive) to establish causality and examined specific aspects of negotiator global self-esteem that may account for the effect. We found that the effect of counterpart’s competitiveness on high FTS negotiators’ demand levels was mediated by their performance self-esteem, but not by their social self-esteem. In Study 3, we manipulated performance self-esteem to establish it as a causal underlying psychological mechanism. For high FTS negotiators, when performance self-esteem was low, demand levels were significantly lower with a competitive (vs. cooperative) counterpart. However, when performance self-esteem was high, there was no significant difference in demand levels depending on counterpart’s behavior. This finding suggests that negotiating with a competitive (vs. cooperative) counterpart reduces high FTS negotiators’ performance self-esteem, which in turn leads them to make lower demands. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Prognostic Factors in Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Type 1 Occurring in the Korean Army

OBJECTIVES

In Korea, patients diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) in the army are typically discharged from the army; however, the course of the disease after discharge is not known. The purpose of this study was to investigate the course of CRPS that occurred in the army and to identify the influences of various clinical and psychosocial factors immediately before discharge on the disease course.

METHODS

Clinical profiles and psychosocial status were collected from the medical records of 16 patients with CRPS type 1 who were discharged during the period between March 2017 and April 2018. The degree of improvement after discharge was assessed by follow-up evaluation through telephone contact. Cox proportional hazards regression was performed to identify clinical and psychosocial predictors for the rate of recovery.

RESULTS

The median time to recovery after discharge was 39 weeks (95% confidence interval [CI] = 8.8-69.2 weeks). The sole predictor for time to recovery after discharge was the time period from the onset of pain to discharge. Each one-week increase in the duration of pain experienced in the military was associated with a 18.2% (95% CI = 5.3%-29.5%) reduction in the rate of recovery after discharge (P = 0.007).

CONCLUSIONS

Patients who experienced a short period of pain in the military demonstrated a relatively good prognosis after discharge. This may show how prolonged pain in the army could affect the experience of pain from a social point of view, in that it shows the disease course after a change in the social environment.

Affective Consequences of Social Comparisons by Women With Breast Cancer: An Experiment

Objective

People with severe illness often meet and compare themselves with other patients. Some of these comparison standards do well, others do poorly. Such comparisons could have positive as well as negative consequences depending on whether people identify or contrast from the standard. In the present study, we examine whether patients with breast cancer can benefit from comparisons by engaging in favorable comparison processes.

Design

102 women diagnosed with breast cancer were randomly assigned to read a (fictitious) self-report from a well or poorly adjusted breast cancer patient.

Main Outcome Measures

Participants reported their affective reaction (mood, anxiety, depression) and specified their comparison process (identification or contrast).

Results

In general, participants engaged in favorable comparison processes by contrasting predominantly with poorly adjusted patients, and identifying with well-adjusted ones.

Participants’ Mood Assimilated to the Standard

Participants reported more positive mood after having been exposed to the well-adjusted than the poorly adjusted standard.

Anxiety and Depression Varied With the Type of Comparison Process

It was lower the more they avoided unfavorable comparisons (contrasting with the well-adjusted patient and identifying with the poorly adjusted one).

Conclusion

Patients adjust their comparison processes to the standard to experience favorable comparisons. Especially avoiding unfavorable comparison processes reduces the risk of negative consequences after encountering other patients. Thus, patients may profit from comparisons as long as they engage in the right process.

Neurocomputational mechanisms underpinning aberrant social learning in young adults with low self-esteem

Low self-esteem is a risk factor for a range of psychiatric disorders. From a cognitive perspective a negative self-image can be maintained through aberrant learning about self-worth derived from social feedback. We previously showed that neural teaching signals that represent the difference between expected and actual social feedback (i.e., social prediction errors) drive fluctuations in self-worth. Here, we used model-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to characterize learning from social prediction errors in 61 participants drawn from a population-based sample (n = 2402) who were recruited on the basis of being in the bottom or top 10% of self-esteem scores. Participants performed a social evaluation task during fMRI scanning, which entailed predicting whether other people liked them as well as the repeated provision of reported feelings of self-worth. Computational modeling results showed that low self-esteem participants had persistent expectations that others would dislike them, and a reduced propensity to update these expectations in response to social prediction errors. Low self-esteem subjects also displayed an enhanced volatility in reported feelings of self-worth, and this was linked to an increased tendency for social prediction errors to determine momentary self-worth. Canonical correlation analysis revealed that individual differences in self-esteem related to several interconnected psychiatric symptoms organized around a single dimension of interpersonal vulnerability. Such interpersonal vulnerability was associated with an attenuated social value signal in ventromedial prefrontal cortex when making predictions about being liked, and enhanced dorsal prefrontal cortex activity upon receipt of social feedback. We suggest these computational signatures of low self-esteem and their associated neural underpinnings might represent vulnerability for development of psychiatric disorder.

Stuck in a negative me: fMRI study on the role of disturbed self-views in social feedback processing in borderline personality disorder

BACKGROUND

Interpersonal difficulties in borderline personality disorder (BPD) could be related to the disturbed self-views of BPD patients. This study investigates affective and neural responses to positive and negative social feedback (SF) of BPD patients compared with healthy (HC) and low self-esteem (LSE) controls and how this relates to individual self-views.

METHODS

BPD (N = 26), HC (N = 32), and LSE (N = 22) performed a SF task in a magnetic resonance imaging scanner. Participants received 15 negative, intermediate and positive evaluative feedback words putatively given by another participant and rated their mood and applicability of the words to the self.

RESULTS

BPD had more negative self-views than HC and felt worse after negative feedback. Applicability of feedback was a less strong determinant of mood in BPD than HC. Increased precuneus activation was observed in HC to negative compared with positive feedback, whereas in BPD, this was similarly low for both valences. HC showed increased temporoparietal junction (TPJ) activation to positive v. negative feedback, while BPD showed more TPJ activation to negative feedback. The LSE group showed a different pattern of results suggesting that LSE cannot explain these findings in BPD.

CONCLUSIONS

The negative self-views that BPD have, may obstruct critically examining negative feedback, resulting in lower mood. Moreover, where HC focus on the positive feedback (based on TPJ activation), BPD seem to focus more on negative feedback, potentially maintaining negative self-views. Better balanced self-views may make BPD better equipped to deal with potential negative feedback and more open to positive interactions.

Trajectories of psychological dating violence perpetration in adolescence

BACKGROUND

More than one adolescent out of three will use psychological dating violence (DV) as a strategy to resolve conflict in romantic relationships, which will have major consequences on their partner's well-being. However, over time, most adolescents will learn skills to better interact and face conflicts, suggesting that psychological DV rates should decrease over time. Yet, because of individual characteristics and experiences, evolution over time may differ across adolescents. Risk factors for psychological DV have not been examined specifically, even though it is the most common form of dating violence.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to explore latent trajectories of psychological DV perpetration and examine risk factors predicting trajectory group membership.

PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS

A sub-sample of 449 adolescents who reported being in a dating relationship for the three waves of the [blind for review] completed printed and online self-report questionnaires.

RESULTS

Results from the group-based modeling identified 4 trajectories of psychological DV perpetration: absence of violence (30.7%), low violence (61.3%), high descending (4.2%), and moderate elevating (3.8%). Age, DV victimization, exposure to father toward mother violence, low self-esteem, marijuana use, DV victimization of peers, and antisocial behaviors of peers predicted trajectory membership. The model explained 36.7% of the variance.

CONCLUSIONS

These results support the need for a person-oriented approach to study psychological DV and for developing prevention programs adapted to the specific characteristics of vulnerable youth.

Effects of Self-Esteem Threat on Physical Attractiveness Stereotypes

Certainly one of the first things that we notice when meeting someone new is how physically attractive that they are. Although the vast majority of studies in the literature suggest favoritism for physically attractive humans, some research indicates that negative biases may occur as well. This discrepancy in the literature may simply indicate the failure of differing experimental methods to adequately tap the same construct; however, it is also a likely indicator of moderating factors at work. This study employs an episodic memory task to demonstrate the moderating effects of self-esteem threat on physical attractiveness attributions. Furthermore, results indicate that attractiveness-based stereotypes are susceptible to fluctuations in self-esteem, such that individuals experiencing a threat to self-esteem become more reliant on stereotyping.

Self-enhancement in moral hypocrisy: Moral superiority and moral identity are about better appearances

People often consider themselves as more moral than average others (i.e., moral superiority) and present themselves as more moral than they actually are (i.e., moral hypocrisy). We examined whether feelings of moral superiority-as a manifestation of self-enhancement motives-motivates people's hypocritical behavior, that is, their discrepant moral performances in public versus private settings. In three studies (total N = 1,151), participants distributed two tasks (one favorable and one unfavorable) between themselves and an anonymous partner, with the option of using an ostensibly fair randomizer (e.g., a self-prepared coin). We found that when experiencing feelings of moral superiority (vs. non-superiority), people, especially those who highly identified with moral values (Studies 1 and 2), were less likely to directly give themselves the favorable task, but they were not less likely to cheat in private after using the randomizer (Studies 1 to 3). Both self-enhancement motives and moral identity have implications for hypocritical behavior, by motivating public moral appearances but not private moral integrity.

Narcissism and Devaluing Others: An Exploration of Impaired Control Over Drinking as a Mediating Mechanism of Alcohol-Related Problems

Devaluing or diminishing the worth of others is how many individuals destroy their relationships, such as by drinking beyond limits at inappropriate times and letting others down. Impaired control over drinking (IC) reflects consuming alcohol beyond predetermined limits. This investigation sought to determine whether facets of vulnerable narcissism (e.g., entitlement-rage, hiding-the-self, contingent-self-esteem, and devaluing) or narcissistic grandiosity (e.g. grandiose-fantasy, self-sacrificing-for-self-enhancement, and exploitativeness) were directly related to IC and indirectly related to drinking outcomes. We examined a path model of 759 university student drinkers. Our results show that while grandiose-fantasy (i.e., desire for special recognition) was negatively linked to IC, devaluing was positively linked to IC. In addition, men scored higher on exploitativeness (i.e., interpersonally manipulative for personal gain) than women. We conducted mediational analysis with asymmetric confidence intervals and a bias-corrected bootstrap technique. Mediational tests showed that higher levels of grandiose-fantasy were indirectly related to fewer alcohol-related problems through less IC and less heavy-episodic drinking. In contrast, higher levels of devaluing were indirectly related to more alcohol-related problems through more IC and heavy-episodic-drinking. Our results suggest that targeting thought processes in which people with Alcohol Use Disorders (AUDs) are actively devaluing others may be a good target for therapeutic intervention.

Contingencies of Self-Worth on Positive and Negative Events and Their Relationships to Depression

Previous studies have found that the relationship between contingencies of self-worth (CSW) and depression was generally weak. We posited that this is partly because previous studies assumed CSW on positive and negative events as the same construct (one-dimensional CSW), which should be better conceptualized as two distinctive dimensions (two-dimensional CSW) in explaining depression. A total of 393 undergraduates from Taiwan completed the measures regarding one-dimensional CSW, two-dimensional CSW, and depression. After dividing CSW of seven classic domains into two dimensions of positive and negative CSW, the results of confirmatory factor analyses showed that the two-dimensional CSW model had better model fit than the one-dimensional model in all domains. Furthermore, relative to using one-dimensional CSW as a predictor of depression, the variance accounted for largely increased when positive and negative CSW entered simultaneously in the regression equation. The results suggest that CSW on positive and negative events should be seen as two dimensions and this perspective may largely increase the explanatory power of CSW in explaining mental health.

Promotion by Others through Social Networks

Although self-promotion may be the most direct way people self-present, it carries social costs. We propose a novel phenomenon-promotion by others-wherein social networks may afford similar advantages with fewer costs. We utilized egocentric network analysis to examine relationships between social connections and perceived promoter potential (i.e., likelihood a friend will tell others about successes; PPP) and relationship dynamics. Participants enumerated friends and reported perceptions these friends would promote them, were valuable, and the extent to which they wanted these friends to know about successes. PPP was positively related to (a) network connectedness, (b) relational value, and (c) desire to know about success. We discuss benefits of promotion by others and individual differences related to engagement in this process.

Development of MPFC function mediates shifts in self-protective behavior provoked by social feedback

How do people protect themselves in response to negative social feedback from others? How does such a self-protective system develop and affect social decisions? Here, using a novel reciprocal artwork evaluation task, we demonstrate that youths show self-protective bias based on current negative social evaluation, whereas into early adulthood, individuals show self-protective bias based on accumulated evidence of negative social evaluation. While the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) mediates self-defensive behavior based on both current and accumulated feedback, the rostromedial prefrontal cortex (RMPFC) exclusively mediates self-defensive behavior based on longer feedback history. Further analysis using a reinforcement learning model suggests that RMPFC extending into VMPFC, together with posterior parietal cortex (PPC), contribute to age-related increases in self-protection bias with deep feedback integration by computing the discrepancy between current feedback and previously estimated value of self-protection. These findings indicate that the development of RMPFC function is critical for sophisticated self-protective decisions.