Barry R. Schlenker

Social anxiety and self-presentation: A conceptualization model.

This article presents a self-presentation approach to the study of social anxiety that proposes that social anxiety arises when people are motivated to make a preferred impression on real or imagined audiences but doubt they will do so, and thus perceive or imagine unsatisfactory evaluative reactions from subjectively important audiences. We presume that specific situational and dispositional antecedents of social anxiety operate by influencing peoples motivation to impress others and their expectations of satisfactorily doing so. In contrast to drive models of anxiety but consistent with social learning theory, it is argued that the cognitive state of the individual mediates both affective arousal and behavior. The traditional inverted-U relation between anxiety and performance is reexamined in this light. Implications of the approach for counseling situations are considered, especially the recommendation that treatments be tailored to the specific type of selfpresentational problem encountered by clients,

The triangle model of responsibility.

Responsibility acts as a psychological adhesive that connects an actor to an event and to relevant prescriptions that should govern conduct. People are held responsible to the extent that (a) a clear, well-defined set of prescriptions is applicable to an event (prescription-event link); (b) the actor is perceived to be bound by the prescriptions by virtue of his or her identity (prescription-identity link); and (c) the actor is connected to the event, especially by virtue of appearing to have personal control over it (identity-event link). Studies supported the model, showing that attributions of responsibility are a direct function of the combined strengths of the 3 linkages (Study 1) and that, when judging responsibility, people seek out information that is relevant to the linkages (Study 2). The model clarifies prior multiple meanings of responsibility and provides a coherent framework for understanding social judgment.

The Use of Apologies in Social Predicaments.

AUTHOR Darby, Bruce W.: Schlenker, Barry R. TITLE The Use of Apologies in Social Predicaments. SPONS AGENCY National Inst. of Mental Health (DHEw), Rockville, Md.: National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C. POE DATE Sep 80 GRANT NIMH-K02-MH00183: NSF-BNS-77-08182 NOTE 11p.: Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association (88th, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, September 1-5, 1980) . Best copy available.

Audiences' reactions to self-enhancing, self-denigrating, and accurate self-presentations.

Abstract Subjects in three experiments evaluated hypothetical actors whose claims about either an upcoming or past performance and whose performances were system-atically varied from very positive to very negative. Positive, self-enhancing claims were effective in generating favorable evaluations when either the claim was congruent with the performance or the subjects were unaware of how the actor performed. In general, accurate self-presentations were most favorably evaluated, especially when the claim occurred after the performance. The two exceptions to the preference for accurate self-presenters occurred when (a) the actor modestly underestimated a clearly superior prior performance by claiming to have done “only” well or all right, in which case he/she was evaluated more favorably than an accurate but seemingly boastful actor who claimed to have done extremely well, and (b) the actor self-deprecatingly predicted an inferior performance, in which case he/she was disliked even when accurate. Disclaimers about the importance of the performance (e.t., “I did well, but its no big deal”) were seen as boastful rather than modest and decreased evaluations. The results mirror many of the tactics used by actor-subjects in past experiments, suggesting that people generally vary their self-presentations in optimal fashion to create the most favorable possible impression on the audience.

Self-Identification: Toward an Integration of the Private and Public Self

It is tempting to draw a sharp line of demarcation between the private and public sides of the self. The private self has been afforded a prestigious status within psychology. It is usually regarded as both a structure, containing the organized, relatively stable contents of one’s personal experiences, and an active process that guides and regulates one’s thoughts, feelings, and actions. It is the core of one’s inner being: basic, enduring, distinctive, genuine, and a worthy subject for examination by psychologists.

Translating Actions into Attitudes: An Identity-Analytic Approach to the Explanation of Social Conduct1

Publisher Summary This chapter examines the social character and functions of explanations of conduct. The identity-analytic theory that is presented in the chapter provides a basis for understanding when and why peoples attributions and self-presentations sometimes appear personally biased, if not downright distorted, to the outside observer. The chapter focuses on changes or shifts in attitudes that occur following counter-attitudinal behaviors. Predicaments are discussed in the chapter wherein accounting, attitude change following counter-attitudinal behavior, acclamations, self-attention, identity images, and counterattitudinal behavior, and negative affect and attitude change are discussed. The chapter explores payments and predicaments, where it discusses about the enigma, the social meaning of payment, prior research on payments for counter-attitudinal behavior, manipulating illegitimacy, self-presentation and genuine attitude change, and identity analysis and dissonance theory.

Excuses and Character: Personal and Social Implications of Excuses:

Recent research has emphasized the effectiveness of excuses in protecting the self from the implications of failures and transgressions. The disadvantages of excuses have been relatively neglected. The triangle model of responsibility provides a conceptual framework to analyze how excuses disengage the self from events and the conditions under which advantages and disadvantages accrue. On the disadvantage side, excuse-makers risk being seen as deceptive, self-absorbed, and ineffectual; they are viewed as unreliable social participants with flawed character These undesired consequences result when excuses are used in ways that lower credibility (e.g., fail to receive corroboration), lower goodwill (e.g., blamefailures on team members), and produce long-term disengagement (e.g., lead to failures to correct personal deficiencies). It is proposed that excuses are effective in the long run only if they balance short-term disengagement of the self and long-term engagement. Excuses are especially problematic when used to disengage the self from important, recurring tasks.

Social Anxiety and Communication about the Self

The reciprocal relationship between social anxiety and the communication of information about the self is examined. Social anxiety appears to arise from peoples concerns about the impressions others are forming of them. Specifically, it is proposed that social anxiety occurs when people are motivated to create a desired impression on audiences but doubt they will do so. High social anxiety, in turn, is associated with qualitative and quantitative changes in how people communicate. It is argued that the combination of an important goal (i.e. to create a desired impression) and low expectations of goal achievement produces negative affect, physical or psychological withdrawal from the situation, and self-preoccupation with ones limitations. These distracting concomitants of high social anxiety impede optimally effective self-monitoring and control. A protective self-presentational style, in which the focus is on avoiding blatant failures rather than achieving major successes, is engaged. The result is a lowered level of participation in interactions (e.g. initiating fewer conversations, talking less frequently), the avoidance of topics that might reveal ones ignorance (e.g. factual matters), minimal disclosure of information about the self, cautious self-descriptions that are less positive and less likely to assert unique qualities that draw attention to the self, and a passive yet pleasant interaction style that avoids disagreement (e.g. reflective listening, agreeing with others, smiling).

Ideology and Prejudice The Role of Value Conflicts

In three studies, we tested whether prejudice derives from perceived similarities and dissimilarities in political ideologies (the value-conflict hypothesis). Across three diverse samples in Study 1, conservatives had less favorable impressions than liberals of groups that were identified as liberal (e.g., African Americans, homosexuals), but more favorable impressions than liberals of groups identified as conservative (e.g., Christian fundamentalists, businesspeople). In Studies 2 and 3, we independently manipulated a target’s race (European American or African American) and political attitudes (liberal or conservative). Both studies found symmetrical preferences, with liberals and conservatives each liking attitudinally similar targets more than dissimilar targets. The amount of prejudice was comparable for liberals and conservatives, and the race of the target had no effect. In all three studies, the same patterns were obtained even after controlling for individual differences on prejudice-related dimensions (e.g., system justification, social-dominance orientation, modern racism). The patterns strongly support the value-conflict hypothesis and indicate that prejudice exists on both sides of the political spectrum.

Threats to Identity

In the physical sciences, stress is a relative concept that reflects the pressure or force on a body to deform its shape versus the strength or resistance of the body to hold its shape. When external force exceeds internal resistance, the body bends and ultimately breaks, losing its integrity. If internal resistance is greater than external force, the integrity of the entity survives.