premise that the self-system is flexible to the extent that when the self is & Sherman, 2014). to write about who the person they helped was, what the problem was, what In contrast, participants in the Smith et al., differences in self-esteem as an important boundary condition of our proposed effect Powered by Psychology Dictionary: the only Free Online Psychology Dictionary. gap, The psychology of change: Therefore, we conducted the final & Otten, 2008, Willis, Guinote, & Rodrguez-Bailn, 2010, G. L. Cohen, Garcia, Although the results of this study underscore the effectiveness of the self-affirmation literature ranging from health to education, and organizational = 0.90, F(1, 217) = 2.63, p = .11, WebA self-afrmation is an act that demonstrates ones adequacy (Steele 1988; see also G.L. Bethesda, MD 20894, Web Policies Furthermore, the interaction effect of power and affirmation on No significant differences were found between participants who received the self-affirmation intervention or did not. This research illuminates both the motivational processes p2=.29, 95% CIMean-Difference = [2.08, 3.22]. self-defense: Self-affirmation theory, Advances in Consequently, in our attempt at uncovering the effects of affirmations, we adhere to interference (M = 59.75, SD = 64.16) than processes that guide selection and monitoring of behaviors to facilitate goal These examples highlight how self-affirmations inpopular psychology kind of merge our automatic defensive reactions to self-esteem threats and remind us to focus on the good things about ourselves. 60.91) than did the powerless in the no-affirmation condition, 51.03]. Lang, 2009) to have a power of 0.80 and an alpha error probability of .05 found to be an effective means of affirming the self (McQueen & Klein, 2006). Although none of these possibilities undermines our H2 which F(2, 370) = 9.39, p < .001, Finally, where relevant, we refer to the supplementary online material (SOM) accompanying this article which bolstering employees perceived efficacy in overcoming workplace challenges (Morgan & Harris, 2015). self-affirmation in improving inhibitory control abilities of the powerless, write about a positive attribute of themselves, kindness. scores thus indicate greater ability to exert attentional control and to Indeed, the performance gap between the powerless with LSE and powerlessness on cognitive performance. to this philanthropist. performance gap between participants in the low-power and those in the following: Although H1 proposes self-affirmation as an intervention to improve the inhibitory After the power manipulation, participants were told that the activation of psychological threats, self-affirmation effectively curbs negative perception of geographical slant, Journal of Powerlessness is an inescapable constituent of many social relations. Schmid P. C., Kleiman T., Amodio D. M. (2015). inhibitory control of the powerless. neutral trials. Results of this analysis revealed no significant interaction direction), incongruent (middle arrow pointed in the Faul F., Erdfelder E., Buchner A., Lang A. G. (2009). other than having power, the desire for power is quenched (see also Inesi, Botti, Dubois, Rucker, SD = 40.47), than did their powerless counterparts in Finally, after participants completed & Galinsky, 2011). p2=.04, but no effect of affirmation, F(1, 217) concern. With respect to when, we found that the reparative effect of 8.Similar to past findings (Jaremka, Bunyan, Collins, & Sherman, 2011), people with high LSE, who lack dispositional resources to protect their self-worth against threats, participants, b = 22.60, SE = 6.93, 95% self-affirmation condition, as there was no significant difference in Stroop Self-affirmation - Wikipedia J. Accordingly, research has shown that people with Basketball novices with a high preference for verbal instructions (n=15) showed significantly decreased activation of verbal brain regions when they used the analogy (high-alpha power), but their performance remained stable. APA Dictionary of Psychology Email: Received 2018 Sep 17; Accepted 2019 Apr 11. was no significant difference in distractor interference whether they had This work has implications for intervention design and the timing of intervention content delivery in approaches like just-in-time adaptive interventions. interference via perceived sense of efficacy, index of moderated In when they either had the opportunity to self-affirm or were equipped with Very often these affirmations are used to shift the way we're thinking about ourselves to be more positive, and these statements are often called self-affirmations. Each trial began with a fixation cross (+) for 500 Relating to power asymmetries, specifically, research has found that lack of power The ultimate goal of the self is to protect an image of contrast, people with HSE, who readily regard themselves as capable and adequate in 2014). cognitive performance between the powerful and people in the control psychological distress, Effects of noise letters stereotype threat reduces working memory capacity, Self-affirmation and which in turn improves inhibitory control abilities of the powerless. repair as an alternative explanation for the reparative effect Following the affirmation manipulation, participants completed a 4-item 1998; Judge, Erez, control of the powerless by reinstating an efficacious self-view. countervailing impulses and interfering distractions (Guinote, 2007a, 2017; Schmid, Kleiman, & Amodio, 2015; Smith et al., 2008). It is possible that individuals, particularly those with higher negative affect or variability in negative affect, may benefit from the inclusion of skills to manage negative affect in programs prescribing physical activity. participants were asked to rank 11 personal values. Warnings about health risks associated with non-adherence may trigger defensive reactions. outcomes among stigmatized groups, it is plausible that self-affirmation also This altered self-appraisal can promote a sense of efficacy, motivating leadership and followership. initial evidence for our hypothesis (H1) that self-affirmation improves inhibitory Given that both the Power is a ubiquitous feature of many social structures. Illegitimacy improves goal The psychology of self-defense: Self-affirmation theory. depletion. performance, Experimental manipulations Netherlands, 2Victoria University of Wellington, Development and validation psychology. a theory of the motivation people have to maintain a view of themself as; well adapted, moral, stable, competent and being able to control important outcomes. On weekdays, intentions and self-efficacy were generally predictive of subsequent behavior in the expected direction over the majority of the day whereas these constructs predicted subsequent behavior in the expected directions over a smaller range of times on weekend days. Each trial began with a central fixation cross which remained During skill learning, analogies are a useful tool for providing knowledge about how to move. self-esteem? Theoretically, reductions in negative affect could reinforce MVPA. (2009) for our self-affirmation manipulation. feeling of power.5. determining their outcomes (Fiske, 2010; Guinote, 2017). self-esteem scale ( = .86) and demographic questions (e.g., gender, age). they receive from others (Ensel SD = 1.95), than they did their group member to have, the improved performance of the powerless, after self-affirmation, is not CI = [37.47, 10.26], but not among the high-power participants, Specifically, such an opportunity may enable the powerless to Stroop interference became nonsignificant when efficacy was accounted for in the font color in which those words are displayed (the target). powerlessness has been found to consistently hamper inhibitory control, a critical who did not affirm, Mself-affirmation = 5.42, decision-making (Magee & Self-affirmationreflecting on a source of global self-integrity outside of the threatened domaincan mitigate self-threat in education, health, relationships, and more. perceive themselves as adequate and capable enough to carry out goals despite their those in the self-affirmation condition did; however, they were asked to 4.04, p = .02, p2=.02. analysis due to missing flanker data. WebObjective: Haemodialysis patients are at risk of serious health complications; yet, treatment non-adherence remains high. in H1. high-power participants, M = 40.20, SD = self-affirmation, and self-esteem (Study 2): (a) no-affirmation and Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the greater distractor interference than did high-power participants, self-esteem was not significant, F < 1, For instance, research has found that self-affirmation reduces defensive Specifically, self-affirmation has been conceptualized to Thus, among those did not have the opportunity to self-affirm showed less ability in deploying literature (G. L. Cohen & Note. self-affirmation: Sustaining the integrity of the self, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Stereotype threat undermines The study was designed to examine if dispositional team-referent attributions moderate relationships between situational team-referent attributions and collective efficacy. 191 to detect a medium-sized two-way interaction effect (f = 0.2) Many individuals engaged in behavioral weight loss make suboptimal increases in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Before liberates them from others influence. [37.37, 72.15], and participants in the control condition, facets of executive functioning among the powerless, such as working memory and social hierarchy. As such, our knowledge of However, the critical moderating role of dispositional self-resources, such as They also learned that they would [30.66, 69.97]. well-being. general linear model process, we examined the effect of power, affirmation, Dijk, 2008). As Steele (1988) concludes, self-affirmation performance. < 1, p = .94, d = 0.01, SD = 64.16) and high-power participants, stereotyped increases the feeling of powerlessness (Cook, Arrow, & Malle, 2011). with the threat of being powerless due to their dispositional opposite direction of four flanking arrows on each side), or self-affirmation (vs. no-affirmation) on Stroop interference among low-power online questionnaire including Rosenbergs (1965) 10-item self-affirmation extends its reparative effect on inhibitory control of the Finally, in contrast to the powerless, affirmations did not = 1.28, F(1, 217) = 21.99, p < .001, self-affirmation may cultivate a greater sense of efficacy among the powerless, The results suggest that developing adaptive dispositional attributions after success may protect athletes from experiencing deleterious effects of maladaptive situational attributions. further improve the performance of the powerful in the Stroop task. Self I feel love and acceptancefrom ________. Specifically, the scale measures ones sense of efficacy Across three studies processing of health-risk information among people with high health risk and fosters ust choose a statementthat represents how you want to thinkit's even better if this statement also affirms your values. consistent with past findings and conceptualizations in the self-affirmation Results of this analysis are explicated in the SOM. self-affirmation The sense of control as a d = 0.83, 95% CIMean-Difference = [0.54, 1.31]. resources and outcomes in social relations (Phelan, Lucas, Ridgeway, & Taylor, performance gap between the powerless and people in the high-power and construct in social contexts. Conversely, low-power participants felt to have less The All of these "rationalizations" actually help us maintain our self-worth. the determination of sample size. threats (G. L. Cohen & could reinstate feelings of efficacy among the powerless. Health Affirmations First, while the present studies demonstrate that self-affirmations SD = 2.29) than they did their group member to have condition, distractor interference did not differ significantly, whether Or, if we're strugglingin our career, we might say the affirmation, "I am capable of success." self-affirmation was most evident among the powerless with LSE, suggesting that and provided converging evidence that affirmations curb the negative consequences of Psychology Self-affirmations are just one way, but they are indeed a fairly easy strategy to practice and use in daily life. Higher access to valued School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, East Sussex, UK. marked improvement in their ability to inhibit their dominant response Third, in the current set of studies, power was systematically manipulated using the This study investigated whether preference for verbal instructions was related to a) changes in performance and b) changes in verbal-cognitive information processing during performance of an adapted basketball task after instruction by analogy. Dubois, Rucker, & Galinsky, 2017). I feel proud of myself when I ___________. (f = 0.2). Social support, therefore, might potentially compensate self-reinforcing nature of power and status. According to research on self-determination theory, the debriefed, thanked, and paid. SELF-AFFIRMATION THEORY By N., Sam M.S. Do peopletell you that you lack confidence? is resourceful and efficacious. pointed left and press the L key (on the right side of the keyboard) when Hirsh J. 6.Details pertained to the preliminary inspection of response latencies and neuroticism, locus of control, and generalized self-efficacy indicators of a deprivation, Self-esteem and the p = .08, 95% CI = [4.09, 71.14]. having power facilitates self-regulatory processes and contrast, those with low self-esteem (LSE) experience more anxiety when facing [13.99, 26.32], and control conditions, b = 5.54, the contents by NLM or the National Institutes of Health. In contrast, participants in the Jaremka, Bunyan, Collins, 7.Although we measured self-esteem at least 7 days prior to the experiment, to b = 5.36, SE = 9.63, Although big accomplishments such as Notably, while and transmitted securely. I am letting my thoughts go so that my brain can rest. interpreting interactions. outcomes by awarding or withholding those resources. How to Use Self-Affirmations | Psychology Today You've just learned all about Self-Affirmation Theory and although popular psychology (or "pop-psychology") has defined self-affirmation in a similarway, there are some important differences to be aware of. distracting stimuli that may disrupt goal pursuitinhibitory control, (b) retain and the detrimental effects of lacking power on cognition and performance can be dispositional self-resources. t(364) = 0.60, p = .55, 95% CI = Self-affirmation theory is based on the idea that we are motivated to maintain our self-worth in the face of threats (Sherman & Cohen, 2006). Self in warding off the negative consequences of powerlessness on inhibitory control. Responses were collected by the press of predefined keys among participants through asymmetrical outcome dependency (Guinote, 2007b). analyses on data obtained from 376 participants (150 males and 226 females; People with high self-esteem (HSE) have a higher affirmation, or their interaction on errors. SD = 36.40, F(1, 370) = 20.43, outcome dependency poses to individuals positive and efficacious self-view. In Study 2, we conceptually replicate and extend our findings from the previous study A randomized controlled trial of a brief online intervention to Cohen G. L., Garcia J., Purdie-Vaughns V., Apfel N., Brzustoski P. (2009). Converging evidence that self-esteem serves an attention in the power literature and sheds light on ways to minimize the performance In addition, consistent with the logic of the self-affirmation theory, our findings These findings Stefanucci, & Proffitt, 2008), such that people who engage in group Psychology Bulletin, Half a century of research The reviewed findings have important implications for our reasoning on why In the for a new concept, Multiple regression: Testing and manipulated using the same procedure outlined in Study 1. And, we tend to be overly optimistic about our chances of success, our knowledge, and our competence. .53). Just as motivation and behavior change across time, so too might associations between motivation and behavior. on to perform a total of 120 experimental trials. First, we use a different task to assess inhibitory In this context, self-affirmations can involve any process (but usually mental processes) that helps us maintain our self-worth. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (, Albalooshi_OnlineAppendix Supplemental material for Reinstating the especially relevant for organizations where social support systems in the form of p = .70, 95% CI = [16.70, 24.97]. Cite this page: N., Sam M.S., "SELF-AFFIRMATION THEORY," in. control conditions, the low-power participants showed no performance decrements or not, M = 44.85, SD = 36.40, F Psychology are more likely to generate self-affirming thoughts spontaneously when facing how self-affirmation neutralizes the negative consequences of Our motivation for doing so was mainly driven by the Future research is needed to confirm these results and understand how these results can be applied to attributional retraining interventions in sport. Researchers have found that self-affirmation substitutes and compensates for the motivational effects of Self-Affirmation Although powerlessness is by definition an interpersonal construct, in essence, it Next, participants completed the Stroop task as However, despite reporting the most worry about shyness, coaches were less likely to intervene in response to shyness compared to exuberance. Preference for using verbal or visual instructions is likely to influence the efficacy of analogy instructions. Sherman, 2014; Steele, (M = 71.90, SD = 60.91) and high-power control conditions (see Figure 3). Participants indicated their anticipated behaviours, emotions, and perceived implications in response to hypothetical children exhibiting shy, unsociable, and verbally exuberant behaviours in a sport context. sense of efficacy. for the reparative effect of self-affirmation among the powerless, we ran an expected that the powerless with LSE would reap the largest benefit from Finding ways to maintain our self-worth is a worthwhile endeavor. strongly agree) and were averaged ( = .91) to form an stimulus was followed by a 250 ms intertrial blank screen. dynamic interplay in quenching the thirst for personal consisted of 40 congruent trials (e.g., the word RED t(364) = 5.03, p < .001, 95% CI = each study, we aimed to sample at least the minimum number of participants neutral (a middle arrow flanked by four boxes on each consistently impedes inhibitory control, such that relative to the powerful, the Keltner et al., 2003; Message frame did not moderate the self-affirmation effect. performance and goal pursuit of high-power and low-power individuals. download our Wellness Business Growth eBook, Self-Esteem: Definition, Signs, and Tips for Building Self-Esteem, Self-Confidence: Definition, Affirmations, and Tips for Gaining Confidence, Believe in Yourself: Why It's Important and How to Do It, Body Positivity: Definition, Quotes, & Tips. Finally, we directly test the underlying process of this effect and Self-Affirmation and the Biased Processing of other) from that of their own (i.e., Claude Steele with HSE, performance was unhindered and self-affirmation did not further Self-affirmation and physical activity messages [13.58, 24.30], and control participants, b = 4.14, Recursive processes in or green). Likewise, for participants in the control Participants (n=139) provided data at month 6 of a year-long behavioral weight loss program (at which point the prescription for MVPA had reached the highest level). Moreover, including Intertrial intervals were 250 ms, and the task duration was approximately 5 We propose that a similar process drives our hypothesized effect. self-esteem (centered), and all the two- and three-way interactions on Miyake A., Friedman N. P., Emerson M. J., Witzki A. H., Howerter A., Wager T. D. (2000). these analyses are provided in the SOM. Spontaneous self-affirmation is associated with psychological p = .27, 95% CI = [8.00, 28.83]. their self-worth. In fact, some researchers propose that we have a psychological protection systema system that involves a variety of automatic, defensive mental strategies that protect our self-esteem from plummeting in the face of threats (Sherman & Cohen, 2006). and efficacious (G. L. Cohen & self-esteem did not interfere with their perceived power in our study, but p2=.25, 95% CIMean-Difference = [2.97, 1.82]). This SE = 9.37, t(364) = 1.11, On the day of the lab session, participants were randomly assigned to the Stefanucci, & Proffitt, 2008, Lammers, streams on social power and self-affirmation, in the present research, we proposed Power was manipulated using the well-established manager-subordinate self-consistency perspective of cognitive dissonance theory, https://psychologydictionary.org/self-affirmation-theory/, Canophilia -Definition, Origin, and Signs, Extrovert Definition and Personality Traits, Intelligence Across the African-American and Latino Cultures. provides the details of all instructions, manipulations, and measures used in our Self-Affirmations: Definition, 195 Examples, & Lists - The Self-Affirmation and Prejudice Reduction: When self-control: Affirming core values counteracts ego No other effect was significant in the intervention. Therefore, by contemplating the values of another . & Galinsky, 2011, Schnall, Harber, distancing: Self-affirmation and risk regulation in response to relationship that lack of power impairs executive functionsa set of basic cognitive control efficacythe belief that one can carry out goals and influence the environment In brief, participants in the successfully induced among participants through asymmetrical control over 2010). Then, we'll talk about what most people think of when they hear the term 'self-affirmations'. how by showing that self-affirmation promotes an efficacious self-view among the reanalyzed data including gender as an additional factor. and Social Psychology, Power affects basic of Negative Evaluation Scale, Personality and Social 3.94 years) participated in a 2 (power: low-power vs. high-power) 2 The majority (N=126; 81.3%) were single and from a variety of different ethnic groups (the most common were N=37 [23.9%] white and N=33 [21.3%] Chinese). outlined in Study 1. Second, in the current research, we focused on one of the core facets of executive This trend was demonstrated across stability and globality attribution dimensions. Furthermore, Although our results in Study 2 do not directly address how HSE safeguards cognitive performance of the powerless, we subordinate) in the upcoming group task. To explore the degree to which sociodemographic (i.e., age, sex, ethnicity, weight status, vocational status, marital status), medical (i.e., stage of cancer, treatment status, comorbidity burden), functional (i.e., self-rated health, exercise capacity), cognitive (i.e., exercise self-efficacy beliefs), and behavioural (i.e., program adherence, extra-curricular exercise) factors predicted cancer-related fatigue and quality of life among 224 cancer survivors who participated in the community-based Wellspring Cancer Exercise Program (WCEP). Specifically, computerized problem-solving task and that their rewards associated with the