Matthew Vess

Nostalgia as a Resource for the Self

This research tested whether nostalgia serves as a positive resource for the self. In Experiment 1, nostalgia was induced and the accessibility of positive self-attributes was assessed. Participants who thought about a nostalgic experience, relative to those who thought about a positive future experience, evidenced heightened accessibility of positive self-attributes. In Experiment 2, participants received negative or positive performance feedback and then thought about a nostalgic or ordinary past experience. Subsequently, they were given the opportunity to make internal attributions for their performance. Participants displayed a typical pattern of self-serving attributions if they were not given the opportunity to engage in nostalgia. Nostalgic engagement, however, attenuated this effect. Nostalgia indeed functions as a positive resource for the self.

When Death is Good for Life: Considering the Positive Trajectories of Terror Management

Research derived from terror management theory (TMT) has shown that people’s efforts to manage the awareness of death often have deleterious consequences for the individual and society. The present article takes a closer look at the conceptual foundations of TMT and considers some of the more beneficial trajectories of the terror management process. The awareness of mortality can motivate people to enhance their physical health and prioritize growth-oriented goals; live up to positive standards and beliefs; build supportive relationships and encourage the development of peaceful, charitable communities; and foster open-minded and growth-oriented behaviors. The article also tentatively explores the potential enriching impact of direct encounters with death. Overall, the present analysis suggests that although death awareness can, at times, generate negative outcomes, it can also function to move people along more positive trajectories and contribute to the good life.

To Discover or to Create: Metaphors and the True Self

Three studies examined how endorsement of self-discovery and self-creation metaphors influences belief in the true self and its use as meaning source. It was hypothesized that discovery metaphors contribute to belief in the true self and bolster the relationship between true self-knowledge and meaning. Study 1 supported the hypothesis that discovery is positively associated with belief in the true self among a sample of college students (Nu2009=u2009311). Studies 2 and 3 extended the analysis by showing that the discovery metaphor also facilitates perceptions of meaning and the use of the true self specifically as a source of meaning in a second sample of college students (Nu2009=u200975) as well as an adult sample of university employees (Nu2009=u2009173). Implications for understanding what enables the true self to infuse life with meaning, as well as an individual differences approach to metaphoric cognition, are discussed.

Warm thoughts: attachment anxiety and sensitivity to temperature cues.

Recent work on embodied cognition has shown that perceptions of interpersonal intimacy are conceptually grounded in physical temperature. For example, holding warm (vs. cold) beverages increases perceptions of social proximity (IJzerman & Semin, 2009), and social isolation promotes perception of temperature as colder (Zhong & Leonardelli, 2008). Such results suggest that temperature and intimacy are psychologically interchangeable (cf. Williams & Bargh, 2008). Activating one, through either physical experience or semantic priming (e.g., IJzerman & Semin, 2010), produces changes in the other. Such results are also reminiscent of classic work on the importance of temperature for attachment bonds (Harlow, 1958), which means that they may be useful for understanding attachment processes. Might individuals with high levels of attachment anxiety, given their enhanced sensitivity to intimacy cues (Mikulincer, Birnbaum, Woddis, & Nachmias, 2000), also show an enhanced sensitivity to temperature cues? In the present research, I tested the hypothesis that attachment anxiety positively predicts sensitivity to temperature cues, with the aim of integrating research on associations between temperature and intimacy with perspectives on adult attachment.

Who Uses Groups to Transcend the Limits of the Individual Self? Exploring the Effects of Interdependent Self-Construal and Mortality Salience on Investment in Social Groups

Terror management theory posits that people identify with and invest in culturally derived social groups, in part, to attach the self to something more permanent than one’s physical existence. Accordingly, research demonstrates that reminders of mortality (mortality salience) increase investment in culturally derived in-groups. The current research extends this analysis by examining whether amplified in-group investment following mortality salience is primarily characteristic of people who define the self in terms of social groups (interdependent self-construal). Three studies provided support for this assertion. Mortality salience increased: identification with one’s nation among Chinese (high interdependence culture) but not American (low interdependence culture) participants (Study 1); positivity toward one’s university for students with high, but not low, interdependent self-construal (Study 2); and willingness to self-sacrifice for one’s religious group among participants induced to adopt an interdependent (vs. independent) self-construal (Study 3).

The Psychosocial Effect of Thoughts of Personal Mortality on Cardiac Risk Assessment

Background . Prejudice by medical providers has been found to contribute to differential cardiac risk estimates. As such, empirical examinations of psychological factors associated with such biases are warranted. Considerable psychological research implicates concerns with personal mortality in motivating prejudicial biases. The authors sought to examine whether provoking thoughts of mortality among medical students would engender more cautious cardiac risk assessments for a hypothetical Christian than for a Muslim patient. Methods . During the spring of 2007, university medical students (N = 47) were randomly assigned to conditions in a 2 (mortality salience) × 2 (patient religion) full factorial experimental design. In an online survey, participants answered questions about their mortality or about future uncertainty, inspected emergency room admittance forms for a Muslim or Christian patient complaining of chest pain, and subsequently estimated risk for coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, and the combined risk of either of the two. A composite risk index was formed based on the responses (on a scale of 0— 100) to each of the 3 cardiac risk questions. Results . Reminders of mortality interacted with patient religion to influence risk assessments, F1,41 = 11:57, P = 0:002, η 2 =:22. After being reminded of mortality, participants rendered more serious cardiac risk estimates for a Christian patient (F1,41 = 8:66, P = 0:01) and less serious estimates for a Muslim patient (F1,41 = 4:08, P=0:05). Conclusion . Reminders of personal mortality can lead to biased patient risk assessment as medical providers use their cultural identification to psychologically manage their awareness of death.

Faith and Nature The Effect of Death-Relevant Cognitions on the Relationship Between Religious Fundamentalism and Connectedness to Nature

A common theme among many religions, particularly those with Abrahamic roots, is that humans are separate from the rest of nature. Though empirical support is lacking, such themes do suggest that religiosity may play a role in shaping the ways that people relate to the natural world. The present research used terror management theory to address this issue. It was hypothesized that death-relevant concerns would moderate the relationship between religious fundamentalism and feelings of connectedness to nature. Across three studies, religious fundamentalism negatively predicted feelings of connectedness to nature when death-relevant thoughts were activated. No such relationship emerged in the absence of death-relevant thought. The implications of these findings for better understanding the role of religion in human/nature relationships and current ecological issues are discussed.

Guilty, but not ashamed: "true" self-conceptions influence affective responses to personal shortcomings.

The current research examined how true self-conceptions (who a person believes he or she truly is) influence negative self-relevant emotions in response to shortcomings. In Study 1 (Nu2009=u200983), an Internet sample of adults completed a measure of authenticity, reflected on a shortcoming or positive life event, and completed state shame and guilt measures. In Study 2 (Nu2009=u200949), undergraduates focused on true versus other determined self-attributes, received negative performance feedback, and completed state shame and guilt measures. In Study 3 (Nu2009=u2009138), undergraduates focused on self-determined versus other determined self-aspects, reflected on a shortcoming or neutral event, and completed state shame, guilt, and self-esteem measures. In Study 4 (Nu2009=u200975), undergraduates thought about true self-attributes, an achievement, or an ordinary event; received positive or negative performance feedback; and completed state shame and guilt measures. In Study 1, differences in true self-expression positively predicted shame-free guilt (but not guilt-free shame) following reminders of a shortcoming. Studies 2-4 found that experimental activation of true self-conceptions increased shame-free guilt and generally decreased guilt-free shame in response to negative evaluative experiences. The findings offer novel insights into true self-conceptions by revealing their impact on negative self-conscious emotions.

Straying From the Righteous Path and From Ourselves: The Interplay Between Perceptions of Morality and Self-Knowledge.

The present research addresses the relationship between morally valenced behavior and perceptions of self-knowledge, an outcome that has received little attention in moral psychology. We propose that morally valenced behavior is related to subjective perceptions of self-knowledge, such that people experience lower levels of self-knowledge when they are reminded of their immoral behaviors. We tested this proposition in four studies (N = 1,177). Study 1 used daily-diary methods and indicates that daily perceptions of self-knowledge covary with daily levels of morally valenced behavior. The final three studies made use of experimental methods and demonstrate that thinking about immoral behaviors attenuates current perceptions of self-knowledge. The predicted relationships and effects generally persist when controlling for self-esteem. Based on our findings, we argue that perceived self-knowledge may play a functional role in moral self-concept maintenance and moral regulatory processes.

More Than Meets the Eye: There's More to Meaning Maintenance Than Violated Expectations

In the target article, “The Five ‘As of Meaning Maintenance: Finding Meaning in the Theories of Sense-Making,” Travis Proulx and Michael Inzlicht (this issue) took on an ambitious and laudable tas...