EFFECTS OF SELF-ESTEEM ON LENIENCY BIAS IN SELF-REPORTS OF PERFORMANCE: A STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODEL ANALYSIS

This study used structural equation model analysis to examine the relationship between self-esteem and leniency bias in self-reports of performance. The results showed that consistent with the prediction of consistency theory (e.g., Korman, 1970), leniency bias was positively correlated with self-esteem. The results also suggest that the relationship between self-esteem and leniency bias was more positive when self-ratings were made on ambiguous performance dimensions rather than on less ambiguous dimensions. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.     

Images of the self and self-esteem: do positive self-images improve self-esteem in social anxiety?

Negative self-images play an important role in maintaining social anxiety disorder. We propose that these images represent the working self in a Self-Memory System that regulates retrieval of self-relevant information in particular situations. Self-esteem, one aspect of the working self, comprises explicit (conscious) and implicit (automatic) components. Implicit self-esteem reflects an automatic evaluative bias towards the self that is normally positive, but is reduced in socially anxious individuals. Forty-four high and 44 low socially anxious participants generated either a positive or a negative self-image and then completed measures of implicit and explicit self-esteem. Participants who held a negative self-image in mind reported lower implicit and explicit positive self-esteem, and higher explicit negative self-esteem than participants holding a positive image in mind, irrespective of social anxiety group. We then tested whether positive self-images protected high and low socially anxious individuals equally well against the threat to explicit self-esteem posed by social exclusion in a virtual ball toss game (Cyberball). We failed to find a predicted interaction between social anxiety and image condition. Instead, all participants holding positive self-images reported higher levels of explicit self-esteem after Cyberball than those holding negative self-images. Deliberate retrieval of positive self-images appears to facilitate access to a healthy positive implicit bias, as well as improving explicit self-esteem, whereas deliberate retrieval of negative self-images does the opposite. This is consistent with the idea that negative self-images may have a causal, as well as a maintaining, role in social anxiety disorder.     

情绪信息与注意偏向

情绪信息对注意的调节是情绪研究的热点问题之一。过去的研究多集中于注意偏向,研究范式的多样化、被试群体特质的差异性,导致对注意偏向机制的诸多争论,形成了注意成分说、图式说、注意资源说和PDP模型。注意成分说认为,威胁相关的刺激损害了注意解除能力而引起偏向。图式说认为,图式或知识结构的激活引发注意偏向。注意资源说认为,过多注意资源的消耗引起情绪Stroop实验中的注意偏向。PDP模型认为,特殊人群过高的输入单元激活水平引起注意偏向。     

A retrieval-based approach to eliminating hindsight bias

Individuals exhibit hindsight bias when they are unable to recall their original responses to novel questions after correct answers are provided to them. Prior studies have eliminated hindsight bias by modifying the conditions under which original judgments or correct answers are encoded. Here, we explored whether hindsight bias can be eliminated by manipulating the conditions that hold at retrieval. Our retrieval-based approach predicts that if the conditions at retrieval enable sufficient discrimination of memory representations of original judgments from memory representations of correct answers, then hindsight bias will be reduced or eliminated. Experiment 1 used the standard memory design to replicate the hindsight bias effect in middle-school students. Experiments 2 and 3 modified the retrieval phase of this design, instructing participants beforehand that they would be recalling both their original judgments and the correct answers. As predicted, this enabled participants to form compound retrieval cues that discriminated original judgment traces from correct answer traces, and eliminated hindsight bias. Experiment 4 found that when participants were not instructed beforehand that they would be making both recalls, they did not form discriminating retrieval cues, and hindsight bias returned. These experiments delineate the retrieval conditions that produce—and fail to produce—hindsight bias.     

Intuition and the correspondence between implicit and explicit self-esteem

Four studies tested whether the perceived validity of intuition increases the correspondence between implicit and explicit self-esteem. Studies 1 and 2 found, with 2 different measures of implicit self-esteem, that people who chronically view their intuition as valid have more consistent implicit and explicit self-esteem. In contrast, people with relatively low faith in their intuition had a negative relation between implicit and explicit self-esteem, suggesting that they may overcorrect their explicit self-views for the potential bias posed by implicit self-esteem. In Studies 3 and 4, participants who were induced to view their intuition as valid reported explicit self-views (self-evaluations made under time pressure, or state self-esteem) that were more consistent with their implicit self-esteem. These results suggest that people experience implicit self-esteem as intuitive evaluations. The correspondence between implicit and explicit self-esteem among individuals who view their intuition as valid may suggest that these individuals incorporate implicit self-esteem into their explicit self-views.     

不同自尊者对自我相关信息的记忆偏好

研究主要采用4(自尊类型)×2(词汇效价)混合设计,探讨了178名不同自尊水平或不同自尊类型大学生对自我相关信息的记忆偏好。结果发现:(1)高外显自尊者比低自尊者有更积极的记忆偏好,消极记忆偏好差异不显著;高内隐自尊者则比低自尊者有更弱的积极回忆偏好及更弱的消极回忆偏好。(2)就作为组内差异存在的记忆偏好而言,所有被试均有积极偏好;就作为组间差异存在的记忆偏好而言,脆弱的高自尊者有更强的积极偏好,但低自尊者也没有表现出明显的消极偏好。结果提示不同自尊者对自我相关信息有不同记忆偏好。     

自尊与记忆偏向的关系

采用2（外显自尊：高、低）×2（内隐自尊：高、低）×2（编码深度：浅、深）×3（词汇效价：积极、中性、消极）混合设计,考察了89名不同自尊类型的大学生在不同编码深度下对不同效价形容词的再认记忆。结果发现：（1）在浅水平编码组中,低内隐自尊被试比高内隐自尊被试有更强的积极记忆偏向,而高低不同水平的外显自尊者对于词语记忆偏向没有显著差异;（2）在深程度编码组中不同自尊水平影响被试对积极词的无意识提取;（3）所有被试均有积极记忆偏向。     

What You Expect Is What You Believe (But Not Necessarily What You Get): A Test of the Effectiveness of Subliminal Self-Help Audiotapes

Seventy-eight subjects, ranging in age from 18 to 60 years, participated in an experiment on the effectiveness of commercially produced subliminal self-help audiotapes. Upon completing pretest memory and self-esteem tests, subjects randomly received either a subliminal self-help tape designed to improve memory or increase self-esteem and were told that they had received either a memory or a self-esteem tape. After listening to the tape for 5 weeks in a home environment, subjects returned to the laboratory for memory and self-esteem tests. The results showed that the subliminal self-help tapes did not affect any of the performance measures in a manner consistent with manufacturer claims. However, subjects' perceptions of personal improvement were consistent with their expectations. Specifically, subjects who thought they had listened to a self-esteem tape were more likely to indicate that their self-esteem had improved and subjects who thought they had listened to a memory tape were more likely to indicate their memory had improved regardless of the actual subliminal content.     

Hemispheric control of spatial attention

According to the activation-orienting hypothesis the distribution of attention in space is biased in the direction contralateral to the more activated hemisphere. The present investigation tested this proposal and evaluated the nature of hemispheric differences in orienting control. Activation imbalance was produced by a unilateral visual stimulus. The distribution of attention was measured using a modified line bisection task in which subjects judged the location of an intersect on a tachistoscopically presented horizontal line. The first three experiments suggest that (a) attention is biased in the direction contralateral to the stimulated hemisphere, and (b) the biases do not depend on the task relevance or hemispatial position of the stimulus producing the activation imbalance. The final three experiments suggest that when orienting conflict is introduced the rightward bias becomes more robust than the leftward bias. The findings are consistent with the activation-orienting hypothesis. Each hemisphere generates a contralateral attentional bias and the rightward bias of the left hemisphere is stronger. The relevance of these findings to understanding unilateral neglect resulting from parietal damage is discussed.     

自我与记忆

记忆的选择性或偏向性也许是稳定的人格特质——自尊的函数。一些研究者在个人记忆的研究范型及其理论模型的基础上．提出了针对自我概念的解决不一致——负向模型和忽视不一致——负向模型,以及针对双维整体自尊的心境一致性模型和相关模型。相应的实验研究结果支持忽视模型或相关模型,表明记忆的选择性也许发生的编码阶段。作者最后提出了记忆的选择性也许具有文化特异性的假设。     

Social identity and intergroup evaluative bias: Realistic categories and domain specific self-esteem in a conflict setting

Social identity theory predicts a link between self-esteem and intergroup discrimination. Previous research has failed to find consistent support for this prediction. Much of this research has, however, been beset by a number of methodological shortcomings. These shortcomings may have hindered attempts to discern a consistent relationship between self-esteem and intergroup discrimination. The current investigation sought to overcome these difficulties by utilizing, realistic groups, multidimensional measures of self-esteem and testing self-esteem before and after the manifestation of intergroup evaluative bias. The results demonstrate that when the members of realistic groups engage in evaluative intergroup bias, the esteem in which they hold specific self-images is enhanced. Of the 13 facets of self-esteem delineated by the instrument used in the present study significant increases were found in six particular domains: honesty, academic ability, verbal ability, physical appearance, religion and parental relations. Global self-esteem was unaffected by the display of bias. These findings emphasize the importance of using realistic groups and domain specific self-esteem when attempting to assess the role of self-esteem in intergroup discrimination.     

Ideological and personal zeal reactions to threat among people with high self-esteem: motivated promotion focus

After a mortality salience manipulation, participants completed measures of either ideological zeal (Study 1) or personal project zeal (Study 3). Mortality salience increased both kinds of zeal but only among participants with high self-esteem. High self-esteem was positively correlated with dispositional tendencies toward promotion focus, action orientation, and behavioral activation; it was negatively correlated with behavioral inhibition and rumination (Study 2). These findings clarify the role of dispositional self-esteem in mortality salience research and confirm that, as has been found with various other threats, zealous reactions to mortality salience are most pronounced among participants with high self-esteem. Results support a regulatory focus perspective on zealous reactions to threat. Ideological and personal zeal reflect motivated promotion focus reactions that are rewarding because they decrease the motivational relevance, regulatory fit, and subjective salience of threats.     

自尊与社交焦虑的关系：基于中国学生群体的元分析

运用元分析方法探讨自尊与社交焦虑的关系。经过文献检索和筛选, 共纳入原始文献58篇, 含58个独立样本, 被试总数达32181名。根据同质性检验结果, 选择随机效应模型分析发现, 自尊与社交焦虑存在中等程度的负相关(r = -0.35, 95%CI为[-0.39, -0.31]), 社交焦虑测量工具类型能够显著调节两者的关系, 但性别和被试类型对二者的关系不存在显著的调节效应。结果表明个体的自尊水平与社交焦虑关系密切, 支持了自尊的恐惧管理理论和社交焦虑认知理论。未来应开展纵向研究或实验研究来揭示自尊与社交焦虑的因果关系。     

Using trait–state models to evaluate the longitudinal consistency of global self-esteem from adolescence to adulthood

The present research used a latent variable trait–state model to evaluate the longitudinal consistency of self-esteem during the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Analyses were based on ten administrations of the Rosenberg self-esteem scale (Rosenberg, 1965) spanning the ages of approximately 13–32 for a sample of 451 participants. Results indicated that a completely stable trait factor and an autoregressive trait factor accounted for the majority of the variance in latent self-esteem assessments, whereas state factors accounted for about 16% of the variance in repeated assessments of latent self-esteem. The stability of individual differences in self-esteem increased with age consistent with the cumulative continuity principle of personality development.     

The relationship between retrieval-induced forgetting, anxiety, and personality

Abstract Retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) refers to the finding that the retrieval of a memory trace suppresses the retrieval of rival memory traces, and there is evidence that RIF reflects the effects of cognitive inhibition. The Attentional Control Theory (ACT) postulates that cognitive inhibition will be impaired by a high level of state anxiety, but the effect of anxiety on RIF has not previously been investigated. A sample of 116 participants were tested on the RIF procedure, and were also administered the Spielberger State Anxiety Inventory and the Big Five Personality Inventory. The results indicated a significant negative correlation between RIF scores and state anxiety, and a significant positive correlation between RIF scores and extraversion. However, a multiple regression analysis identified extraversion as the main predictor of RIF performance. None of the other personality factors correlated with RIF scores. These findings are consistent with the predictions of the ACT.     

Contributions to Global Self-Esteem: The Role of Importance Attached to Self-Concepts Associated with the Five-Factor Model

Previous research has attempted to clarify the relations that one's self-concepts have with one's global self-esteem. One hypothesis that has received the most attention to date is the view that characteristic attributes that an individual regards as especially important for his or her self-concepts exert the greatest influence on self-esteem. In an investigation of this hypothesis, 375 college undergraduates completed measures of global self-esteem as well as rating scales that assessed self-concepts and the importance attached to these self-concepts in the maintenance of self-esteem. The self-concept and importance domains examined corresponded to the five-factor model (FFM) personality dimensions. Consistent with previous research, importance ratings attached to self-concepts were not found to moderate the relation between self-concepts and self-esteem. Rather, ratings on self-concepts alone accounted for a substantial proportion of variance (53.3%) in self-esteem scores. Bivariate correlations based on FFM dimension scores and self-esteem scores revealed consistent positive associations. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that among the FFM dimensions, self-concept ratings for emotional stability (vs neuroticism), extraversion, and agreeableness significantly predicted self-esteem.     

Retrieval variability: sources and consequences

A memory model that differentiates between active traces (ongoing electrochemical neural transmission) and passive traces (chemical/structural modification of neurons) is briefly outlined. Evidence suggests that new information is initially encoded as a passive representation within a fraction of a second, leaving little opportunity for retroactive interference with storage processes. Instead, it appears that retroactive interference results from disruption of post-acquisition processing which is necessary for subsequent retrieval. Using this hybrid cognitive-physiological framework, we examine possible sources of associative performance deficits. A distinction is made between similarity interference (arising from the content similarity of the target and interfering traces) and processing interference (arising from the competition between the two traces for use of a limited capacity processor). Both types of interference can act proactively or retroactively, and the similarity-processing and proactive-retroactive dimensions are viewed as orthogonal to the question of whether information is permanently lost or merely subject to a reversible retrieval failure. When reminder techniques (pretest cuing) are used, numerous instances of memory failure commonly identified as "acquisition failures" are found to be reversible without the occurrence of relevant new learning. This literature review constitutes the greater part of the paper. It is concluded that many memory failures are due at least in part to retrieval failure. Consideration of potential retrieval processes in light of the studies that are reviewed argues for the expansion of the initial active-passive trace distinction to three types of traces. In addition to active traces, these include two distinct types of passive traces, i.e., a small content-addressable reference catalog with innately defined dimensions that is used to locate more detailed passive traces, and a large capacity store of detailed passive traces that is location-addressable. The latter type of passive trace presumably is laid down almost instantaneously as events occur, i.e., in real time, whereas the reference catalog type of passive trace, which is used to address the detailed traces, is established somewhat after the sequence of events is complete. Hence, the reference catalog trace is more vulnerable and results in retrieval failure when it is disrupted.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Sex differences in adjustment correlates of locus of control dimensions

This study investigated the hypothesis that dimensions of locus of control are differentially predictive of adjustment criteria for males and females. Two samples of undergraduates completed the Reid-Ware Three-Factor Locus of Control Scale and either the Texas Social Behavior Inventory or the Zander and Thomas version of the Barron ego strength scale. For both males and females, internals reported greater self-esteem and ego strength. However, for males, the fatalism dimension was the strongest predictor for each adjustment correlate. The social system control dimension was not predictive for males in either case. For females, the social system control dimension was predictive for each adjustment correlate, although it was not consistently the strongest predictor. The results are consistent with research on sex differences in parental antecedents of locus of control. Methodological implications of the differential predictiveness of locus of control dimensions are also addressed.     

False memories in patients suffering from obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS)

We assessed the propensity for false memories among patients with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS). Twenty-one patients with OSAS and 21 controls matched for sex, age and education were recruited. At encoding, an adaptation of the Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm was used to induce false memories. At retrieval, participants completed a forced-choice recognition task to distinguish memories based on verbatim traces from those based on gist traces. When the task encouraged retrieval based on either gist or verbatim traces, the groups performed similarly. However, when the task required retrieval based solely on verbatim traces, OSAS patients exhibited poor discrimination and produced more false memories. Our finding that OSAS leads to an increased propensity to produce false memories is discussed within the framework of both fuzzy-trace theory and activation-monitoring theory.