RUI: The Anxiety Buffering Function of Self-esteem and Cultural World Views

大量的研究表明，人们强烈需要保持积极的自我形象，自尊在一系列重要的人类行为中起着重要作用。尽管人们对自尊的重要性达成了共识，但人们为什么需要自尊的问题却没有得到解决。本研究将试图回答三个问题：(1)人们为什么需要自尊？(2)自尊与人们现实观的其他方面有何关系？(3)自尊需求如何影响社会行为。本研究将探讨自尊在多大程度上起到缓冲焦虑的作用，这种焦虑是由于人类意识到自己的脆弱性和死亡。因为自尊本质上是一种文化创造，很多社会行为都是为了从别人那里获得对自己世界观和自我价值的认可。如果自尊和文化世界观起到了缓解焦虑的作用，那么：(a)增强一个人的自尊或对世界观的信念应该使这个人在受到威胁的情况下不那么容易焦虑，(b)提醒人们焦虑的主要来源应该增加他们对自我价值和世界观验证的需求。这项研究应该能增进我们对自尊为何如此重要、对个人如此有益的理解。

A large body of research suggests that people have a strong need to maintain a positive self-image, and that self-esteem plays an important role in a diverse array of important human behaviors. Despite this agreement on the importance of self- esteeem, the question of why people need self-esteem has not been addressed. This research will attempt to answer three questions: (1) why do people need self-esteem?; (2) how is self-esteem related to other aspects of people's conceptions of reality?; and (3) how does the need for self-esteem affect social behavior. This research will explore to what extent self-esteem functions to buffer the anxiety that results from human awareness of their vulnerability and mortality. Because self-esteem is essentially a cultural creation, a great deal of social behavior is oriented toward acquiring validation of one's worldview and self-worth from others. If self-esteem and cultural worldviews serve an anxiety-buffering function, then: (a) increasing a person's self-esteem or faith in worldview should make that person less prone to anxiety in a threatening situation, and (b) reminding people of a major source of anxiety should increase their need for validation of their self-worth and worldview. This research should increase our understanding of why self-esteem is so important and so beneficial for the individual.