1,721,034 research outputs found
Religiosity as self-enhancement: a meta-analysis of the relation between socially desirable responding and religiosity
No full textIn a meta-analysis, the authors test the theoretical formulation that religiosity is a means for self-enhancement. The authors operationalized self-enhancement as socially desirable responding (SDR) and focused on three facets of religiosity: intrinsic,extrinsic, and religion-as-quest. Importantly, they assessed two moderators of the relation between SDR and religiosity. Macrolevel culture reflected countries that varied in degree of religiosity (from high to low: United States, Canada, United Kingdom). Micro-level culture reflected U.S. universities high (christian) versus low (secular) on religiosity. The results were generally consistent with the theoretical formulation. Both macro-level and micro-level culture moderated the relation between SDR and religiosity: This relation was more positive in samples that placed higher value on religiosity (United States > Canada >United Kingdom; christian universities > secular universities). The evidence suggests that religiosity is partly in the service of self-enhancement
Agency-communion and interest in prosocial behavior: social motives for conformity and deviance explain socio-contextual inconsistencies
No full textIdentifying the “prosocial personality” is a classic project in personality psychology. However, personality traits have been elusive predictors of prosocial behavior, with personality-prosociality relations varying widely across sociocultural contexts. We propose the social motives perspective to account for such sociocultural inconsistencies. According to this perspective, a focal quality of agency (e.g., competence, independence, openness) is the motive to swim against the social tide—agentic social contrast. Conversely, a focal quality of communion (e.g., warmth, interdependence, agreeableness) is the motive to swim with the social tide—communal social assimilation. We report two cross-sectional studies. Study 1 (N = 131,562) defined social context at the country level (11 European countries), whereas Study 2 (N = 56,395) defined it at the country level (11 European countries) and the city level (296 cities within these countries). Communion predicted interest in prosocial behavior comparatively strongly in sociocultural contexts where such interest was common and comparatively weakly where such interest was uncommon. Agency predicted interest in prosocial behavior comparatively strongly in sociocultural contexts where such interest was uncommon and comparatively weakly where such interest was common. The results supported the social motives perspective. Also, the findings help to reestablish the importance of personality for understanding prosociality
Religiosity, social self-esteem, and psychological adjustment: on the cross-cultural specificity of the psychological benefits of religiosity
No full textStudies have found that religious believers have higher social self-esteem (Aydin, Fischer, & Frey, 2010; Rivadeneyra, Ward, & Gordon, 2007) and are better psychologically adjusted (Koenig, McCullough, & Larson, 2001; Smith, McCullough, & Poll, 2003) than nonbelievers. Is this relation true across cultures—which would attest to the robustness of religiosity as a wellspring of psychological benefits—or is it found only in specific cultures—which would attest to the relativism of religiosity and its embeddedness within a larger culturalframework? The religiosity-as-social-value hypothesis sideswith the latter possibility.The religiosity-as-social-value hypothesis posits that religiosity receives high social valuation in most societies(Sedikides, 2010) and that, consequently, religious believers are highly valued members of most societies (Sedikides & Gebauer, 2010). Being socially valued is associated with psychological benefits (e.g., social self-esteem, psychological adjustment; Rokeach, 1973; Sedikides & Strube, 1997). The hypothesis predicts, then, that believers will enjoy more psychological benefits in cultures that tend to value religiosity more; alternatively, the less a culture values religiosity, the more likely it is that believers and nonbelievers will enjoy equivalent psychological benefits. Here, we report a study in which we tested this hypothesis
Measuring automatic value orientations. The Achievement-Benevolence Implicit Association Test
No full textThe construct and criterion validity of an Implicit Association Test designed to rate the importance ascribed to Achievement–Benevolence oriented goals (AB-IAT) according to Schwartz's model were investigated. In a first study (N = 113), the AB-IAT and three other value-IATs (Power–Universalism, Security–Self-direction, and Tradition–Stimulation) were administered along with the corresponding self-report scales. The AB-IAT showed the following: (1) an adequate internal consistency; (2) a small correlation and a different pattern of means with respect to the corresponding self-report scale; (3) a pattern of correlations with the other value-IATs that is consistent with Schwartz's model. In a second study (N = 99), results showed that (1) in contrast to self-report measures of values, the AB-IAT appeared unrelated to social desirability; (2) the AB-IAT was significantly correlated with an actual behaviour expressing Benevolence values; (3) in accordance with a double dissociation pattern of prediction, implicit and explicit values are best predictors of actual and self-rated behaviours, respectively. Overall, results of the studies support the construct and criterion validity of the AB-IAT. Moreover, they provide a first support for the generalizability of Schwartz's model in the realm of implicit social cognition, and for the applicability of dual-process models in value research
Inclusion-exclusion of positive and negative past selves: Mood congruence as information
No full textThe current research challenges the widespread truism that recalling a positive self necessarily increases self-esteem, whereas recalling a negative self necessarily decreases self-esteem. Four experiments demonstrate that chronically happy people show a relative increase in self-esteem by recalling either a positive or a negative self. Chronically sad people, however, show a relative decrease in self-esteem by recalling either a positive or a negative self. These effects are due to divergent perceptions of mood congruence between the recalled self and the current self. Specifically, happy people perceive high mood congruence between a recalled positive self and the current self but low mood congruence between a recalled negative self and the current self. In contrast, sad people perceive high mood congruence between a recalled negative self and the current self but low mood congruence between a recalled positive self and the current self. Independent of chronic mood, mood congruence leads to perceptions of temporal recency, whereas mood incongruence leads to perceptions of temporal distance. In line with the inclusion-exclusion model of social judgment, perceived temporal recency elicits assimilation effects on self-esteem, whereas perceived temporal distance elicits contrast effects on self-esteem
Communal narcissism
No full textAn agency-communion model of narcissism distinguishes between agentic narcissists (individuals satisfying self-motives of grandiosity, esteem, entitlement, and power in agentic domains) and communal narcissists (individuals satisfying the same self-motives in communal domains). Five studies supported the model. In Study 1, participants listed their grandiose self-thoughts. Two distinct types emerged: agentic ("I am the most intelligent person") and communal ("I am the most helpful person"). In Study 2, we relied on the listed communal grandiose self-thoughts to construct the Communal Narcissism Inventory. It was psychometrically sound, stable over time, and largely independent of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory-the standard measure of agentic narcissism. In Studies 3 and 4, agentic and communal narcissists shared the same self-motives, while crucially differing in their means for need satisfaction: Agentic narcissists capitalized on agentic means, communal narcissists on communal means. Study 5 revisited the puzzle of low self-other agreement regarding communal traits and behaviors. Attesting to the broader significance of our model, this low self-other agreement was partly due to communal narcissists: They saw themselves as high, but were seen by others as low, in communion
"How much do you like your name?" An implicit measure of global self-esteem
Full text linkWe introduce a single-item implicit measure of global self-esteem. The measure is based on the mereownership effect and asks participants to indicate how much they like their name. Six studies attested to the validity of this measure. In addition to showing high test–retest reliability (r = .85), the studies found that Name-Liking was (a) unrelated to impression management, (b) positively related to the Name-Letter-Task, the Self-Esteem IAT, explicit self-esteem measures, and self-reported subjective well-being, (c) more strongly related to explicit measures of global than domain-specific self-esteem, (d) more strongly related to self-esteem judgments made spontaneously as well as under cognitive load, and (e) predicted observer-reported anxiety during an anxiety-inducing interview whereas an explicit measure of self-esteem did not
Satisfaction-adaptation principles in sexual desire: exploring gender differences across the lifespan
No full textSexual desire may change according to two principles: the satisfaction principle (high sexual opportunity/frequency decreases sexual desire) and the adaptation principle (high sexual opportunity/frequency increases sexual desire). We explore the workings of these opposing principles separately for both genders across the adult life span. Two tests within a large (N = 181,546) and cross-cultural (11 countries) data set revealed that the satisfaction principle accounts for sexual desire in men throughout the entire life and it accounts for sexual desire in women until their mid-30s. From that point onward, however, the pattern of female sexual desire becomes increasingly consistent with the adaptation principle. What sets older women apart from younger women and men of all ages? We discuss several mechanisms, with a focus on the satisfaction principle’s evolutionary value in life phases of high reproductive capacity and the adaptation principle’s evolutionary value in life phases of low reproductive capacity
Agency-communion and self-esteem relations are moderated by culture, religiosity, age, and sex: evidence for the “self-centrality breeds self-enhancement” principle
Full text linkOBJECTIVE: Who has high self-esteem? Is it ambitious, competitive, outgoing people-agentic personalities? Or is it caring, honest, understanding people-communal personalities? The literature on agency-communion and self-esteem is sparse, indirect, and inconsistent. Based on William James's theorizing, we propose the "self-centrality breeds self-enhancement" principle. Accordingly, agency will be linked to self-esteem, if agency is self-central. Conversely, communion will be linked to self-esteem, if communion is self-central. But what determines the self-centrality of agency and communion? The literature suggests that agency is self-central in agentic cultures, as well as among nonreligious individuals, men, and younger adults. Communion is self-central in communal cultures, as well as among religious individuals, women, and older adults.METHOD: This study examined 187,957 people (47% female; mean age?=?37.49 years, SD?=?12.22) from 11 cultures. The large sample size afforded us the opportunity to test simultaneously the effect of all four moderators in a single two-level model (participants nested in cultures).RESULTS: Results supported the unique moderating effect of culture, religiosity, age, and sex on the relation between agency-communion and self-esteem.CONCLUSIONS: Agentic and communal people can both have high self-esteem, depending on self-centrality of agency and communion
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