1,721,288 research outputs found
The importance of being modest
No full textIn this chapter, we consider modesty and its importance. We begin by defining modesty, proceed to argue that being modest is hard work, and then lay out some reasons why this is so. Next, we make the case that modesty correlates with, and may even cause, several desirable outcomes—intrapersonal, interpersonal, and group. We conclude by attempting to reconcile the discrepancies between two empirical literatures, one suggesting that modesty entails social and mental health benefits, the other suggesting that self-enhancement does
A blast from the past: the terror management function of nostalgia
Full text linkAccording to terror management theory, people turn to meaning-providing structures to cope with the knowledge of inevitable mortality. Recent theory and research suggest that nostalgia is a meaning-providing resource and thus may serve such an existential function. The current research tests and supports this idea. In Experiments 1 and 2, nostalgia proneness was measured and mortality salience manipulated. In Experiment 1, when mortality was salient, the more prone to nostalgia participants were, the more they perceived life to be meaningful. In Experiment 2, when mortality was salient, the more prone to nostalgia participants were, the less death thoughts were accessible. In Experiment 3, nostalgia and mortality salience were manipulated. It was found that nostalgia buffered the effects of mortality salience on death-thought accessibility.<br/
On when self-enhancement and self-criticism function adaptively and maladaptively
No full textSelf-love seems so often unrequited
Past forward: Nostalgia as a motivational force
No full textNostalgia has endured a negative reputation, being branded an unhealthy preoccupation with one's past. This reputation is unwarranted. Nostalgia has remarkable implications for one's future. It strengthens approach orientation, raises optimism, evokes inspiration, boosts creativity, and kindles prosociality. Far from reflecting escapism from the present, nostalgia potentiates an attainable future
When do self-schemas shape social perception?: The role of descriptive ambiguity
No full textAn experiment tested the hypothesis that self-schemas shape social perception when the target description is ambiguous. On the basis of a pretest, we derived a target description that was ambiguous on independence–dependence (i.e., the target, Chris, was rated as equally likely to be independent or dependent). Participants classified as independence-schematics, dependence-schematics, or aschematics read the description, predicted Chris' behavior, and indicated their impression of Chris. Consistent with the hypothesis, self-schemas had an assimilative effect on social perception: Relative to aschematics, independence-schematics rated Chris as more independent and more likely to behave independently, whereas dependence-schematics rated Chris as less independent and less likely to behave independently. By assimilating a substantial portion of the social world (the portion that is ambiguous), self-schemas serve a motivational function: They foster the stability, validation, and perpetuation of the self-syste
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