Distinguishing Between Fragile and Secure High Self-Esteem

大量关于自尊的理论和研究表明，高自尊给个人带来许多好处，并与许多积极的心理结果有关。然而，越来越明显的是，高度自尊也有阴暗面，因为它有时与不适应的结果有关，比如加剧的攻击性行为。因此，确定高自尊何时与积极的心理功能和结果相关，以及何时与之无关，这是极其重要的。一个关键因素可能是高度自尊在多大程度上是脆弱或安全的。具有脆弱的高度自尊的人似乎愿意不遗余力地保持、维持和增强他们积极的自我价值感。防御性和其他不适应过程似乎是这些人的特征。相比之下，拥有可靠的高自尊的人拥有牢固的自我价值感，这种自我价值感与健康的心理功能和积极的结果有关。过去关于自尊稳定性的研究表明，区分脆弱和安全的高自尊的一种方法是确定个人自尊随着时间的推移稳定的程度；自尊越不稳定，它就越脆弱。这项拟议的研究将通过关注这种脆弱-安全区别的多种表征来促进对自尊过程的理解。具体地说，研究建议考察(A)个体的内隐自尊(即，自动的、高效的、基本上是无意识的)和外显的(即，有意的和有意识的)自尊之间的差异；(B)偶然自尊(即，自我价值感取决于特定结果或评估的实现程度)；(C)自尊的稳定性(即，人们在基于背景的自我价值感中经历的短期波动的大小)；(D)自恋；以及(E)防御性。尽管它们的具体内容不同，但每个结构都反映了自尊的一个组成部分，它与其水平不同(即一般或典型的自我价值感)。六项拟议研究考察了脆弱自尊与安全自尊的这些标志的个体差异，考察了这些标志对紧迫的社会问题的影响，即攻击性和偏见，以及对日常社会冲突、言语防御和亲密关系功能、质量和满意度的影响。研究一集中在应对自我威胁时的防御性言语。研究二关注人际拒绝后的攻击性。研究3侧重于偏见，研究4侧重于日常交往中冲突的发生，研究5-6侧重于对威胁的反应和亲密关系的运作。每项研究的一个共同主线是考察言语防御的作用，言语防御是人们以防御方式处理威胁经历的倾向的相对直接的指标(Feldman Barrett等人，2002)。作为一个整体，这些研究允许在一系列人际环境中全面检查与脆弱和安全的高自尊相关的过程。长期目标是更好地理解高自尊的本质及其在心理功能和人际关系中的作用。

Considerable theory and research on self-esteem reveals that high self-esteem confers many benefits to individuals and that it relates to many positive psychological outcomes. Increasingly, however, it has become clear that high self-esteem also has a dark side, as it sometimes relates to maladaptive outcomes such as heightened aggressive behavior. Therefore, it is extremely important to determine when high self-esteem relates to positive psychological functioning and outcomes and when it does not. One critical factor may be the extent to which high self-esteem is fragile or secure. Individuals with fragile high self-esteem appear willing to go to great lengths to preserve, maintain, and enhance their positive feelings of self-worth. Defensiveness and other maladaptive processes appear to characterize these individuals. In contrast, individuals with secure high self-esteem have well-anchored feelings of self-worth that relate to healthy psychological functioning and positive outcomes. Past research on stability of self-esteem indicates that one way to distinguish between fragile and secure high self-esteem is to determine the extent to which individuals' self-esteem is stable over time; the more unstable self-esteem is, the more fragile it is. The proposed research will promote understanding of self-esteem processes by focusing on multiple representations of this fragile-secure distinction. Specifically, research is proposed to examine (a) discrepancies between individuals' implicit (i.e., automatic, highly efficient, and largely nonconscious) and explicit (i.e., deliberate and conscious) self-esteem; (b) contingent self-esteem, (i.e., the extent to which feelings of self-worth are dependent upon the achievement of specific outcomes or evaluations); (c) stability of self-esteem (i.e., the magnitude of short-term fluctuations that people experience in their contextually-based feelings of self-worth); (d) narcissism; and (e) defensiveness. Though different in their particulars, each of these constructs reflects a component of self-esteem that is distinct from its level (i.e., general or typical feelings of self-worth). Six proposed studies examine individual differences in these markers of fragile versus secure self-esteem, in the context of their implications for pressing societal problems, namely aggression and prejudice, as well as for everyday social conflicts, verbal defensiveness, and close relationship functioning, quality and satisfaction. Study 1 focuses on defensive verbalizations in response to self-threat. Study 2 focuses on aggression following interpersonal rejection. Study 3 focuses on prejudice, Study 4 focuses on the occurrence of conflict within everyday interactions, and Studies 5-6 focuses on reactions to threats and close relationship functioning. A common thread in each of these studies is to examine the role of verbal defensiveness, which is a relatively direct index of people's tendencies to process threatening experiences defensively (Feldman Barrett et al., 2002). Taken as a whole, these studies allow for a comprehensive examination of the processes associated with fragile versus secure high self-esteem in a range of interpersonal contexts. The long-range objectives are to understand better the nature of high self-esteem and its role in psychological functioning and interpersonal relations.