General self‐efficacy in various domains of human functioning: Evidence from five countries

Based on social‐cognitive theory ( 1 Bandura, 1997), this paper examined whether perceived self‐efficacy is a universal psychological construct that accounts for variance within various domains of human functioning. Perceived self‐efficacy is not only of a task‐specific nature, but it can also be identified at a more general level of functioning. General self‐efficacy (GSE) is the belief in one's competence to tackle novel tasks and to cope with adversity in a broad range of stressful or challenging encounters, as opposed to specific self‐efficacy, which is constrained to a particular task at hand. The study aimed at exploring the relations between GSE and a variety of other psychological constructs across several countries. Relations between general self‐efficacy and personality, well‐being, stress appraisals, social relations, and achievements were examined among 8796 participants from Costa Rica, Germany, Poland, Turkey, and the USA. Across countries, the findings provide evidence for associations between perceived general self‐efficacy and the selected variables. The highest positive associations were with optimism, self‐regulation, and self‐esteem, whereas the highest negative associations emerged with depression and anxiety. Academic performance is also associated with self‐efficacy as hypothesized. The replication across languages or cultures adds significance to these findings. The relations between self‐efficacy and other personality measures remained stable across cultures and samples. Thus, perceived general self‐efficacy appears to be a universal construct that yields meaningful relations with other psychological constructs.     

Individual and parental factors related to meaning in life among Hungarian minority adolescents from Romania

Understanding how adolescents achieve meaning in life has important implications for their psychological development. A social cognitive model of meaning development was tested by assessing psychological (self‐efficacy, self‐regulation and social comparison) and parental (parental responsiveness, demandingness, and social support) variables in a sample of 1944 adolescents (aged 15–19 years; 47.8% males) from secondary schools of the Middle Transylvanian Region, Romania. Both psychological and parental factors were significantly related to meaning in life. For both boys and girls, self‐efficacy, self‐regulation, and maternal responsiveness related positively with meaning in life, and paternal demandingness related inversely to meaning in life. However, social comparison related positively to meaning only among boys, and paternal responsiveness related positively to meaning only among girls. Results point to a possible meaning‐supporting role played by social cognitive variables, as well as parental autonomy support. The gender differences observed here suggest that existing theories of meaning development may need to be elaborated to include family of origin and gender.     

Attachment insecurities and interpersonal processes in Spanish couples: A dyadic approach

Several attachment‐related phenomena in Spanish couples using dyadic‐level analyses were examined. A sample of 295 heterosexual couples completed measures of attachment‐related anxiety and avoidance, self‐esteem, social self‐efficacy, and relationship satisfaction. Results, analyzed from a dyadic perspective using the actor–partner interdependence model (APIM), indicate that (a) there are actor but no partner effects of attachment insecurities on intrapersonal variables such as self‐esteem and social self‐efficacy, (b) there are actor and partner effects of avoidant attachment on relationship satisfaction, and (c) actor anxiety is associated with partner avoidance, and actor avoidance is associated with partner anxiety. Overall, the results reveal the importance of a dyadic perspective on couple members' attachment insecurities and their associations with intrapersonal and interpersonal processes and relationship adjustment. They also show that attachment variables and correlates studied mainly in English‐speaking countries are useful in understanding Spanish couple dynamics.     

Linking self and ingroup: Self‐anchoring as distinctive cognitive route to social identification

The present paper investigates how cognitive projection processes instigate social identification. We complement the classical self‐stereotyping approach (i.e., conforming to prototypical group norms) by investigating self‐anchoring (i.e., projection from self to group) as a distinct cognitive route to social identification. Self‐anchoring has mainly been investigated as predictor of intergroup differentiation. Surprisingly, no reliable link has been provided yet between self‐anchoring and social identification. In Study 1, we provide first evidence for this positive link. In Study 2, we add self‐stereotyping to our model and show that self‐anchoring is still positively related to social identification when controlling for self‐stereotyping. Additionally, we show that self‐anchoring is positively related to affective components of identification, while self‐stereotyping is positively related to cognitive components. Moreover, we examined the impact of self‐concept stability on self‐anchoring. Self‐concept stability was positively related to self‐anchoring, and hence to social identification (Study 1), independently from self‐stereotyping (Study 2). In the discussion, we argue that disentangling self‐anchoring from self‐stereotyping is important as it increases our insight in how people identify, and how this may vary depending on self‐concept and group context. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Genetic and environmental influences on the association between performance‐based self‐esteem and exhaustion: A study of the self‐worth notion of burnout

In the self‐worth model, burnout is considered to be a syndrome of performance‐based self‐esteem (PBSE) and experiences of exhaustion. Studies have shown that PBSE and burnout indices such as Pines’ Burnout Measure (BM) are associated. Whether these variables have overlapping etiologies has however not been studied before. Genetic and environmental components of covariation between PBSE and exhaustion measured with Pines’ BM were examined in a bivariate Cholesky model using data from 14,875 monozygotic and dizygotic Swedish twins. Fifty‐two per cent of the phenotypic correlation (r = 0.41) between PBSE and Pines’ BM was explained by genetics and 48% by environmental factors. The findings of the present study strengthen the assumption that PBSE should be considered in the burnout process as proposed by the self‐worth conception of burnout. The present results extend our understanding of the link between this contingent self‐esteem construct and exhaustion and provide additional information about the underlying mechanisms in terms of genetics and environment. This finding corroborates the assumed syndrome view on burnout, while it also suggests an altered view of how the syndrome emerges and how it can be alleviated.     

Leadership predictors of innovation and task performance: Subordinates' self‐esteem and self‐presentation as moderators

This study examined self‐related subordinate variables as moderators of relationships between supervisors' leadership behaviours (transformational as well as active‐corrective transactional leadership) and subordinates' innovative behaviour and task performance. Based on behavioural plasticity and self‐monitoring theory, we hypothesized that these associations would be moderated by subordinates' organization‐based self‐esteem and by their propensity to modify self‐presentation, a major facet of the self‐monitoring construct. Field survey data (N=161) collected in research and development, marketing and human resources departments of several German companies revealed that transformational leadership positively predicted both criteria, whereas active‐corrective transactional leadership negatively predicted innovation. As hypothesized, transformational leadership related more strongly and positively to innovation for subordinates low in organization‐based self‐esteem. When subordinates were low in self‐presentation propensity, active‐corrective transactional leadership was negatively, and transformational leadership was positively associated with task performance.     

Personal and Political: Post-Traumatic Stress Through the Lens of Social Identity,Power, and Politics

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has always been controversial and highly politicized. Here, using a social identity approach, we review evidence that trauma and its aftermath are fundamentally linked to social position, sociopolitical capital, and power. We begin this contribution by demonstrating how a person's group memberships (and the social identities they derive from these memberships) are inherently linked to the experience of adversity. We then go on to consider how it is through group memberships that individuals are defined by their trauma risk and trauma histories—that is, a person's group memberships and their trauma are often inherently linked. Considering the importance of group memberships for understanding trauma, we argue that it is important to see these, and group processes more generally, as more than just “demographic” risk factors. Instead, we argue that when groups are defined by their trauma history or risk, their members will often derive some sense of self from this trauma. For this reason, attributes of group memberships are important in developing an understanding of adjustment and adaptation to trauma. In particular, groups' status, their recourse to justice, and the level of trust and solidarity within the group are all central to the impact of traumatic events on individual-level psychological resilience. We review evidence that supports this analysis by focusing on the exacerbating effects of stigma and social mistrust on post-traumatic stress, and the value of solidarity and strong identities for resilience. We conclude that because of these group-related processes, trauma interweaves the personal with the political and that post-traumatic stress is fundamentally about power, positionality, and politics.     

QUANTITATIVE MEASURES OF CONSTRUING IN CHILD ABUSE SURVIVORS

Quantitative aspects of construing associated with long-term effects of abusive childhood experiences are examined within a personal construct theory framework. Indices of negative self-construing, reduced identification with others, and extreme construing are compared from the elicited Repertory Grids (RepGrids) of survivors of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse and nonabused controls (N = 336). Responses to the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (ATQ) are also compared, as a further measure of negative self-constructions. Abuse histories are particularly associated with RepGrid and ATQ measures of negative self-constructions and with RepGrid measures of perceived differences between self and parents. Among cognitive and construct measures, the ATQ is most strongly related to standardized measures of symptom distress and social maladjustment, but RepGrid measures also make a unique contribution. From the RepGrid, extreme perceptions of self are related to symptom distress and social maladjustment, and self-ideal discrepancy is related to social maladjustment. Shared method variance and standardized statements specifically relevant to self-evaluation and pathology may contribute to the predictiveness of the ATQ. In contrast, the RepGrid samples a more general range of idiographic constructs used in comparing people.     

IDENTITY AND THE BRAIN: THE BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF OUR SELF

This article reviews the neuroscientific understanding of the self and personal identity, focusing on various elements of inclusivity and exclusivity as well as engaging religious and spiritual perspectives. We will also consider how the identity is comprised of biological, social, and ideological or spiritual aspects, and how they are interconnected. We will consider how the brain helps us to construct and maintain our representation of the self and what happens when we have self-transcendent experiences. Such an evaluation will have implications for understanding the intersection between consciousness and the self. This information will be helpful from both the psychological and spiritual perspective for understanding human identity.     

The role of personality in defeat: a revised social rank model

This study sought to test the role of personality within the social rank theory of depression. Specifically, self‐criticism was hypothesised to be a risk factor for mechanisms underlying involuntary subordination, while self‐efficacy was hypothesised to have a protective function. Involuntary subordination has been implicated as an underlying cause of depression and it was therefore important to determine the personality variables and other intrapsychic mechanisms that lead to this condition. The sample consisted of 115 participants (average age of 20.2 years) who were involved in athletic competition. Participants were evaluated at baseline for personality and social rank variables and for mood immediately before and after a competitive match. Two models were tested: the first model showed that self‐criticism and neuroticism predicted a heightened perception of defeat following a loss. Self‐criticism also predicted an inability to accept defeat which was associated with a latent variable interpreted as involuntary subordination. The second model demonstrated that self‐efficacy was associated with a more adaptive response to defeat, being negatively related to the perception of defeat. Both models proved to be viable and suggest that different personality styles confer specific vulnerabilities to involuntary subordination in the context of defeating events. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

社会困境中合作行为的阶层差异：自我与他人的双重视角

为了探究个体自身与他人的社会阶层对个体在社会困境中合作行为的影响及其作用机制,本研究通过问卷和实验研究来考察自身阶层的行为效应、互动对象阶层的调节效应以及信任有中介的调节作用。研究发现：（1）低阶层者倾向于比高阶层者表现出更多的合作行为;（2）感知到的互动对象阶层对不同阶层个体的合作行为存在显著的调节效应;（3）个体对互动对象的信任水平（即对他人合作行为的预期）对此调节效应起到中介作用。     

Techniques of Affirmation: Deviant Behavior,Moral Commitment,and Subcultural Identity

Previous studies have examined how individuals act in ways that are considered deviant by mainstream standards and how these individuals neutralize their actions to maintain a positive self concept. But little is known about how individuals who defy social norms by “not doing” socially accepted behaviors construct meaningful subcultural identities. We explore the overlap between “deviant behavior” and subcultural identity through a case study of an abstinence-based subculture called straightedge. Through an analysis of online, textual interaction among participants of an internet forum dedicated to the straightedge youth subculture and focused discussions with forum members, we develop the concept of techniques of affirmation to frame how participants' beliefs regarding abstinence from drugs, alcohol, and promiscuous sex are articulated in subcultural discourse. We identify five affirmation techniques through which straightedge youths remain steadfast to their ideals, beliefs and non-actions: (1) acknowledgment of responsibility, (2) acknowledgment of injury, (3) acknowledgment of the victim, (4) discounting condemners, and (5) reference to priority relationships. We suggest that people and groups who orient themselves to subcultural frames of reference are more likely to utilize techniques of affirmation as part of constructing a positive sense of self.     

Attachment theory and group processes: the association between attachment style and group-related representations,goals, memories,and functioning

Four studies examined attachment-style differences in group-related cognitions and behaviors. In Studies 1-2, participants completed scales on group-related cognitions and emotions. In Studies 3-4, participants were divided into small groups, and their performance in group tasks as well as the cohesion of their group were assessed. Both attachment anxiety and avoidance in close relationships were associated with negative group-related cognitions and emotions. Anxiety was also related to the pursuit of closeness goals and impaired instrumental performance in group tasks. Avoidance was related to the pursuit of distance goals and deficits in socioemotional and instrumental performance. Group cohesion significantly moderated the effects of attachment anxiety. The discussion emphasizes the relevance of attachment theory within group contexts.     

Old Wine in New Bottles? The Case of Self‐compassion and Neuroticism

Research on self‐compassion, which is defined as being understanding and kind to oneself when confronted with negative experiences, has produced an impressive number of articles in recent years. This research shows that individual differences in self‐compassion, as measured by the Self‐Compassion Scale (SCS), are positively related to life satisfaction, health and social functioning. However, a critical and systematic test of self‐compassion from a personality perspective has not yet conducted so far. In the present study (N = 576), we (i) tested the factor structure of the SCS, (ii) examined the distinctiveness of self‐compassion with regard to the five‐factor model of personality, focusing on neuroticism, and (iii) tested the incremental predictive power of self‐compassion beyond the five‐factor model in the context of life satisfaction. Confirmatory factor analyses supported a two‐factor plus six facets solution of self‐compassion (a positive factor and a negative factor). Additional analyses revealed that the negative factor was redundant with facets of neuroticism (rs ≥ .85), whereas the positive factor had some unique variance left. However, neither the negative factor nor the positive factor could explain substantial incremental variance in life satisfaction beyond neuroticism. Recommendations for how to use the SCS are provided, and the future of research on self‐compassion is discussed. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Embarrassment and empathy before helping: How internal working models come into play

Prior research has described embarrassment and empathy as predictors of social helping and as self-conscious emotions involving reasoning about the self and others. It remains unclear how cognitive representations of the self and others relate to the two emotions as precursors of social helping. We examined 136 participants’ self-report measures of internal working models as well as dispositional embarrassability, empathic concern, personal distress, and perspective taking. Controlling all the other variables, embarrassability was primarily associated with the model of self and personal distress, whereas empathic concern was primarily associated with the model of others and perspective taking. Moreover, the association between personal distress and embarrassability was moderated by the interaction between models of others and perspective taking. The general proneness to distress arousal was also predicted by the interaction between models of self and others. The findings extended prior research linking internal working models and socio-cognitive emotions associated with helping.     

Bowen Theory: A Study of Differentiation of Self, Social Anxiety, and Physiological Symptoms

The study tested several propositions about an important construct in Bowen's theory of differentiation of self, using an Israeli sample of university students to examine relationships between differentiation of self, social anxiety, and physiological symptoms. The main finding was that family differentiation was negatively correlated with social anxiety (particularly fear of negative evaluation) and physiological symptoms. Results suggest that differentiation is a meaningful construct for Israeli students, and that less differentiated students may be at risk for high levels of social anxiety and symptomatology. They also suggest that therapists should consider various aspects of differentiation when treating a client's social anxiety.     

Centrality and charisma: comparing how leader networks and attributions affect team performance

When leaders interact in teams with their subordinates, they build social capital that can have positive effects on team performance. Does this social capital affect team performance because subordinates come to see the leader as charismatic? We answered this question by examining 2 models. First, we tested the charisma-to-centrality model according to which the leader's charisma facilitates the occupation of a central position in the informal advice network. From this central position, the leader positively influences team performance. Second, we examined the centrality-to-charisma model according to which charisma is attributed to those leaders who are socially active in terms of giving and receiving advice. Attributed charisma facilitates increased team performance. We tested these 2 models in 2 different studies. In the first study, based on time-separated, multisource data emanating from members of 56 work teams, we found support for the centrality-to-charisma model. Formal leaders who were central within team advice networks were seen as charismatic by subordinates, and this charisma was associated with high team performance. To clarify how leader network centrality affected the emergence of charismatic leadership, we designed Study 2 in which, for 79 student teams, we measured leader networking activity and leader charisma at 2 different points in time and related these variables to team performance measured at a third point in time. On the basis of this temporally separated data set, we again found support for the centrality-to-charisma model.     

Examining views of self in relation to views of others: Implications for research on aggression and self-esteem

The traditional view holds that aggressive individuals have unfavorable views of self (i.e., low self-esteem), but recent studies indicate that the opposite might be true (Baumeister, Smart, & Boden, 1996). This debate may be informed by considering how individuals view others. Following relational schema theory (Baldwin, 1992), which suggests that the combination of self and other views is particularly important in predicting behavior in social situations, we examined self- and other-esteem, view of self in relation to views of others, and different forms of aggression among 125 young adults. Views of both self and others were associated with covert aggression (anger and hostility), whereas only views of others were correlated with overt aggression (physical and verbal). We also explored the discrepancy between views of self and other and found participants with more favorable views of self than others, and those who had equally unfavorable views of both self and others to be most aggressive. Findings suggest that views of both self and other and the relation among these views should be considered in future research on aggression.     

The implicit sociometer effect and the moderating role of relational self‐construal

The present study examined how negative feedback influenced implicit self‐evaluations and how individuals' level of relational self‐construal (RelSC) moderated these relationships. One hundred Chinese university students completed the relational‐interdependent self‐construal scale and were randomly assigned into one of three conditions (social exclusion, personal failure, or control). After receiving the manipulation, participants completed two Brief Implicit Association Tests (BIATs) that measured their implicit self‐liking and self‐competence. The results indicated that people with a highly RelSC typically had higher implicit self‐liking, but they decreased their implicit self‐liking more than those with a low RelSC after experiencing social exclusion. However, RelSC did not influence the effect of personal failure on implicit self‐liking. In addition, RelSC was not associated with implicit self‐competence in any situation.