Denise C. Marigold

Defensive Zeal and the Uncertain Self: What Makes You So Sure?

In Studies 1-3, undergraduates with high self-esteem (HSEs) reacted to personal uncertainty-threats with compensatory conviction about unrelated issues and aspects of the self. In Study 1 HSEs reacted to salience of personal dilemmas with increased implicit conviction about self-definition. In Study 2 they reacted to the same uncertainty-threat with increased explicit conviction about social issues. In Study 3, HSEs (particularly defensive HSEs, i.e., with low implicit self-esteem; C. H. Jordan, S. J. Spencer, & M. P. Zanna, 2003) reacted to uncertainty about a personal relationship with compensatory conviction about social issues. For HSEs in Study 4, expressing convictions about social issues decreased subjective salience of dilemma-related uncertainties that were not related to the social issues. Compensatory conviction is viewed as a mode of repression, akin to reaction formation, that helps keep unwanted thoughts out of awareness.

Framing memories of relationship transgressions How visual imagery perspective activates relational knowledge

How people interpret the meaning of minor relationship transgressions can impact broader relationship well-being. It is proposed that picturing relationship transgressions from a third-person (vs. first-person) visual perspective prompts people to think of them in the context of their chronic relationship beliefs and goals. In doing so, individuals who are relatively anxious about their relationships become more insecure, whereas less anxious individuals find reassurance. In Study 1 participants pictured a transgression they committed against their partner. Individuals high in attachment anxiety made less positive evaluations of their relationships when picturing the event using a third-person rather than first-person perspective. Similar results were found when participants recalled transgressions committed by their partners against them (Study 2). These results have implications for understanding how partners move forward in their relationships after transgressions.

Self-Esteem, Epistemic Needs, and Responses to Social Feedback

Abstract People with lower self-esteem (LSEs) suffer from poor relational well-being. This may occur, in part, because LSEs’ epistemic needs constrain their ability to benefit from positive social feedback. Consistent with this hypothesis, LSEs felt undeserving of positive social feedback, which undermined their relational well-being (Experiment 1). After receiving positive social feedback, LSEs displayed an equal preference for additional positive and negative feedback, and their willingness to pursue negative feedback predicted poor well-being (Experiment 2). However, LSEs did seize the opportunity to pursue additional positive feedback about a domain of personal strength, and when they did so, their well-being benefited (Experiment 3). These results help explain chronic self-esteem differences in relational well-being and suggest avenues for future well-being interventions.