Abstract
Researchers have argued that the strategies individuals use for self-esteem regulation are interchangeable. In the present study, we examined whether previous self-affirmation reduces the amount of subsequent claimed self-handicapping. More importantly, we tested potential moderators of these effects. Following negative feedback on an intelligence test, 56 female college students were given the opportunity to affirm themselves either within the threatened intelligence domain or within a domain unrelated to the source of threat (e.g., musicality). Results revealed that subjects handicapped less when they had previously affirmed themselves in a domain which was unrelated to the threatening domain (contextual moderator). However, these effects were moderated by dispositional self-esteem (individual moderator). High self-esteem participants claimed fewer handicaps the more they felt self-affirmed whereas claimed self-handicapping among low self-esteem participants was not affected by previous self-affirmation. Altogether, our findings suggest certain limitations on the substitutability of self-protection processes.
Highlights
Most of the literature on self-esteem regulation has examined antecedents and consequences of single regulation strategies, e.g. (Zuckerman & Tsai, 2005)
We assume that self-affirmation, by valuing an aspect of the self which is unrelated to the threat, is more effective in reducing self-handicapping compared to valuing an aspect of the self which is currently threatened
At least domain-unrelated self-affirmation can turn off self-handicapping, probably because overall self-esteem has been successfully regulated, even without eliminating the original threat
Summary
Most of the literature on self-esteem regulation has examined antecedents and consequences of single regulation strategies, e.g. (Zuckerman & Tsai, 2005). (Zuckerman & Tsai, 2005) Issues such as how many strategies are needed to effectively protect or restore one’s self-esteem, or whether using one strategy may compensate for the use of another, How to cite this paper: Tandler, S. et al (2014). We contribute to this line of research by examining the effects of self-affirmation on subsequent self-handicapping (McCrea & Hirt, 2011; Siegel, Scilitoe, & Parks-Yancy, 2005). We assume that self-affirmation, by valuing an aspect of the self which is unrelated to the threat, is more effective in reducing self-handicapping compared to valuing an aspect of the self which is currently threatened (contextual moderator; McCrea & Hirt, 2011). We aim to provide evidence that a person’s dispositional self-esteem moderates the compensatory impact of self-affirmation on self-handicapping (individual moderator)
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