Self-Esteem Threat as a Moderator of the Mechanism Underlying Exaggerated Positivity

这个项目调查了为什么人们总是戴着玫瑰色的眼镜看待自己。当人们声称他们的个性比实际上更令人向往或者他们取得的成就比实际上更多时，他们到底在想什么？一些研究人员声称，这些乐观的看法是因为人们只是想感觉良好。人们在评价自己时，更多地关注自己的优点，而不是承认自己的消极方面。其他研究人员声称，一贯乐观的自我观点与感觉良好的目标关系不大，而与以最快和最简单的方式评估自我有关。许多人的决定和判断都是基于第一个想到的东西。此外，很多时候，人们首先想到的是奉承自己--这让人们看起来好像在努力让自己看起来很好。这个项目试图将“热”（动机）观点和“冷”（你在想什么？”）对过于有利的自我观点的看法--通过暗示两者在不同的条件下都是正确的。关键可能在于，人们对自己的评价方式不同，这取决于他们对自己的积极感受最近是否受到挑战。例如，面对最近的批评，人们可能会通过在描述自己时强调自己的积极品质来恢复他们的积极情绪。然而，当这些人发现自己处于不挑战他们积极情绪的情况下时，他们可能会用脑海中的第一件事来描述自己。如果这恰好是自我吹捧，他们会提出同样的乐观主张，但理由却大不相同。拟议中的研究将调查（a）批评如何影响人们对自己做出乐观评价所需的思考深度，（B）批评如何影响人们考虑轻松想到的信息之外的信息的意愿，以及（c）哪些大脑区域支持人们对自我的乐观看法。研究结果将有助于调和人们为什么经常对自己做出乐观的评价的对立观点。此外，研究结果可能会指出目前关于人们的情绪如何影响他们的思想的理论的一个例外（例如，恐惧可能并不总是让人们更努力地思考），并将扩大对大脑如何支持人类自我意识的心理理解。过去的研究表明，人们普遍倾向于戴着玫瑰色的眼镜看待自己，这对健康、教育和工作表现都有长期的影响。例如，不承认健康问题和健康风险的人不会寻求适当的治疗。此外，许多临床障碍涉及对自我的不切实际的信念--例如滥用药物者认为他们可以"只使用这一次"而不会复发，或者自恋者认为他们比其他人优越上级。对自己的学术能力或工作技能过于自信的人在学校和工作中也表现不佳。通过确定人们最有可能准确地看待自己的时间和原因，而不是通过乐观的镜头，这项研究可以为干预提供信息，帮助人们更好地决定何时应该寻求治疗，更努力地学习，或者留出更多的时间来完成一项重要任务。该项目还将促进对本科生和研究生的科学培训。此外，结果将被广泛传播，因为实验室通过出版物，学术报告，继续教育（CE）报告和培训计划与心理学家，神经科学家，经济学家和医学和法律领域的专业人士进行交流。

This project investigates why people so consistently view themselves through rose-colored glasses. What exactly are people thinking when they claim that their personalities are more desirable then they actually are -- or that they've achieved more than they actually have? Some researchers claim that these rosy views come about because people simply want to feel good. Instead of acknowledging their negative aspects, people focus more on their good qualities when evaluating themselves. Other researchers claim that consistently rosy self-views have less to do with the goal of feeling good and more to do with evaluating one's self in the quickest and easiest manner possible. Many of people's decisions and judgments are based on the first thing that comes to mind. Further, many times, the first thing that comes to mind happens to flatter the self -- which makes it appear as though people are striving to make themselves look good. The proposed project attempts to integrate the "hot" (motivational) perspective and the "cold" ("what's on your mind?") perspectives on overly favorable self-views -- by suggesting that both are correct under different conditions. The key may be that people approach an evaluation of themselves differently depending on whether there is a recent challenge to their positive feelings about themselves. For example, people faced with recent criticism may restore their positive feelings by emphasizing their positive qualities when describing themselves. However, when those same people find themselves in situations that do not challenge their positive feelings, they may use the first thing that comes to mind to describe themselves. If that happens to be self-flattering, they will make the same rosy claims but for very different reasons. The proposed studies will investigate (a) how criticism shapes how deeply people have to think to make rosy claims about themselves, (b) how criticism affects people's willingness to consider information beyond that which comes to mind easily, and (c) exactly which brain regions support people's rosy views of the self. The results will help reconcile the competing views on why people so often make rosy claims about themselves. Additionally, the results may point out an exception to current theories about how people's emotions influence their thoughts (e.g., fear may not always make people think harder) and will expand the psychological understanding of how the brain supports the human sense of self. As shown in past research, the common tendency for people to see themselves through rose-colored glasses has long-term costs for health, education, and workplace performance. For example, people who fail to acknowledge health problems and health risks do not seek appropriate treatment. Further, many clinical disorders involve unrealistic beliefs about the self -- such as substance abusers' beliefs that they can use "just this once" without relapsing or narcissists' beliefs that they are superior to others. People who are overconfident about their academic ability or work skills also perform poorly in school and at work. By identifying exactly when and why people are most likely to view themselves accurately, versus through rosy lenses, this research can inform interventions that will help people better decide when they should seek treatment, study harder, or allow more time to complete an important task. This project will also advance the scientific training of students at the undergraduate and graduate levels. In addition, the results will be broadly disseminated because the lab interfaces with psychologists, neuroscientists, economists, and professionals in the fields of medicine and law through publications, academic presentations, Continuing Education (CE) presentations, and training programs.