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

自尊威胁作为夸大积极性背后机制的调节因素

• 批准号: 1147776
• 负责人: Jennifer Beer
• 金额: $ 25.12万
• 依托单位: University of Texas at Austin
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-06-01 至 2017-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1147776&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Self; Esteem; Threat; Moderator; Mechanism

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.

这个项目调查了为什么人们总是带着玫瑰色的眼镜看待自己。当人们声称自己的个性比实际更有魅力，或者他们取得的成就比实际拥有的更多时，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。在评价自己时，人们更多地关注自己的优点，而不是承认自己的消极方面。其他研究人员称，持续乐观的自我观与感觉良好的目标关系不大，更多的是与以最快、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脑海中浮现的第一件事。此外，很多时候，人们想到的第一件事恰好是奉承自己——这让人们看起来好像在努力让自己看起来很好。提议的项目试图整合“热”（动机）视角和“冷”（“你在想什么？”）对过度有利的自我观点的看法——通过暗示两者在不同条件下都是正确的。关键可能是，人们对自己的评估方式不同，这取决于他们对自己的积极感觉最近是否受到挑战。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，当这些人发现自己所处的环境不能挑战他们的积极情绪时，他们可能会用脑海中浮现的第一个词来描述自己。如果这恰好是自鸣得意，他们会做出同样乐观的声明，但理由却截然不同。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看法的深度，(b)批评如何影响人们考虑容易想到的信息之外的信息的意愿，以及(c)究竟是哪些大脑区域支持人们对自己的乐观看法。研究结果将有助于调和人们为何经常对自己做出乐观评价这一相互矛盾的观点。此外，研究结果可能会指出当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，恐惧可能并不总是使人们更努力地思考），并将扩大对大脑如何支持人类自我意识的心理学理解。正如过去的研究所显示的那样，人们普遍倾向于通过玫瑰色眼镜看待自己，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——比如药物滥用者认为他们可以“只使用这一次”而不会复发，或者自恋者认为他们比别人优越。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。通过准确地确定人们最有可能准确地看待自己的时间和原因，而不是乐观地看待自己，这项研究可以为干预措施提供信息，帮助人们更好地决定何时应该寻求治疗，更努力地学习，或者给自己更多的时间来完成一项重要任务。该项目还将促进本科生和研究生的科学训练。此外，由于实验室通过出版物、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，结果将得到广泛传播。