Psychology Of Group Dynamics

DPSD2 0903A

18 Jan 2010

1)Overview Of Studies

2)Study 1

3)Study2

4)Study3

5)Study4

6)Study 5

7)Study 6

8)Limitations

9)Recommendations

10)Conclusion

11)The End

Identifying the motivational consequences of experiencing a

threat to the domain of contingent self-worth.

Examine whether initial social motives differed for people with

high self-esteem vs. low self-esteem.

Hypothesized that HSE appearance contingent participants

would express greater desire for social contact with close others

following self threat while LSE avoid any forms of affiliation.

Expected the combination of trait self-esteem and appearance

contingency of self-worth would shape responses to self-threat.

Thus in each study there are three-way interactions between

experimental manipulations of appearance threat, train self-

esteem and appearance contingency of self-worth.

Objective:

• Tested the hypothesis of HSE & LSE appearance-

contingent, how these 2 groups of people would respond to an

appearance threat

HSE- Expected to want to affiliate with close others

LSE- Would want to avoid other people

Methods:

• Participants & procedure

100 graduate students (66 women, 34 men)

Participants were put in private cubicles to answer

questionnaires

They are then assigned to 1 of 2 experimental

conditions

1. Appearance threat condition

2. Control condition

• Appearance threat condition

Participants were ordered pen down their flaws in self, namely

their physical or body appearance which made them feel insecure

or dissatisfied.

• Control condition

Participants were told to observe the objects around the room

where they are seated, think about all of it and again, list it down

in a piece of paper provided.

Afterwards, they indicated their desire to engage in various

activities with close others. Participants were debriefed and

Results & Discussions

• To probe significant interactions, they tested simple effect of

appearance CSW in the threat & control conditions among

participants with HSE vs. LSE.

• Gender, race age were included as covariates in all studies.

• As expected, HSE participants wants to affiliate more with close

others and the otherwise for LSE.

• The CSW for HSE is so much higher while for LSE, there were

no effect observed.

• To sum it up, these study provides preliminary support for the

hypothesis that threat to a domain of contingent self-worth leads

to divergent social motivation for people with HSE vs. LSE.

Objective:

• The use of a more powerful threat manipulation

Participants wrote an essay about dissatisfying appearance,

rather than just the negatives

Elucidate the psychological mechanism which triggers

appearance threats

Use of priming manipulations to satiate the desire either self-

esteem or social belongings

Method

• Participants & procedures 123 students (86 women, 37 men)

Seated in a private cubicle, as it is in study 1

Student wrote essays on the physical/body/face that they do not

like about themselves

•After the essay writing, students were provided with instructions

that varied on experimental conditions :

1. Neutral

2. Self-affirmation

3. Close relationship prime

• Neutral prime condition

List objects in the room

• Self affirmation prime condition

List general strengths

• Close relationship prime condition

Wrote down initials of the one who love them unconditionally &

those who they could turn to in times of needs

Results and Discussions

• After writing about the dissatisfying aspect of their appearance,

HSE appearance contingent showed greater desire to want to

affiliate with close others & LSE wanted to avoid any contact.

• Responses were eliminated. However, needs for self-esteem

and sense of belonging were temporarily satisfied.

• Results were consistent with the hypothesis that the responses

of appearance-contingent HSE & LSE participants reflect

responses to perceive threat- Not just self-esteem but

belongings as well.

Objective:•Study 3 has used a more direct and controlled manipulation

of appearance threat:

Participants receiving feedback from fellow participants.

•Includes a more rigorous control condition, which is

a threat to intelligence & intellectual competence, to

rule out the possibility that any negative feedback, as

opposed to feedback related specifically to

appearance, would produce equivalent effects.

Hypothesis of

Researcher:• Conforming with the previous findings, it was

expected that HSE appearance-contingent

participants would covet conjunction with close

others adhering negative appearance

feedback, but not negative competence

feedback. In contrast, it was expected that LSE

appearance-contingent participants would want

to avoid conjunction with close others adhering

negative appearance feedback and not following

competence feedback.

Method: Participants & Procedure:1) 68 participants .

2) 1 participant had suspected the feedback, so the final sample

consisted of 67 participants. (33 Females,34 Males)

3) Participants were brought together.

4) The experimenter then left the room so participants could

converse freely with each other for 10 minutes.

5) Next, the experimenter collected the forms and administered

the randomly assigned manipulation to each participant

individually.

Results & Discussions:1. Results revealed only the predicted 3-way interaction between

Self-esteem, Appearance CSW, and Condition .

2. Among HSE participants in the appearance threat

condition, having high appearance CSW was related to greater

desire to be with close others .

3. Among LSE participants in the appearance threat

condition, having high appearance CSW was associated with

less desire to engage in activities with close others.

4. However, researchers had found an effect of appearance CSW

among HSE participants in the negative competence feedback

condition (i.e., high appearance CSW was associated with less

desire for social contact).

Objective:

• Examined whether the desire to be close to others would extend

into wanting to be with them.

• HSE- Expected to have increased desire to affiliate with close

other.

• LSE- expected to avoid contact with both close and people in

general as they perceived as a potential sources of rejection &

negative evaluation.

• Added control variables: Social anxiety and neuroticism.

Method:

• 65 participants (47 women, 18 men)

• Participants were told to write on the experience in relief by

describing the situation where they hated how the appear to look

like- Appearance threat condition

• Participants were instructed to drive or walk to school and

afterwards account their feelings and thoughts

Discussion

• HSE participants turn to close others rather than people in

general because they are less familiar than close others and less

likely to perceive as sources of reassurance.

• LSE avoided any form of contact.

• It is also observed that, in the control condition appearance CSW

was associated with greater desire to be with other people.

• This consistent with prior research showing that

general, appearance SW is associated with greater time spent

socializing.

Objectives:

• LSE contingent individuals were expected to show

increased desire to engage in appearance-boosting

activities.

• Improve their attractiveness

• People with HSE are generally satisfied with their

appearance

Method:• 76 participants (42 women, 31 men, 3 unspecified).

• Seated at separate cubicles

• RSE and appearance CSW scales

• Randomly assigned to write an essay

• They indicated their desire (1=not all to 7=very much)

• Then debriefed and dismissed

Results :• Observed a main effect of appearance

• The predicted three-way interaction

• Pattern was not observed

• Predicted HSE participants to have greater desire to

engage in appearance activities

• Overall results was……

• Gender did not make a difference

Discussion:

• LSE participants engaged in appearance-boosting activities

• Improve attractiveness• No direct or extensive contact with other people• Desires: Diet or read fashion magazine Alone, no involvement of interpersonal risk• Safe to receive a compliment about one’s appearance• Physically attractive is closely linked to interpersonal

liking and social acceptance

Discussion:

• Not only it will increase self-esteem but also social belonging .(LSE people)

• Unexpected finding from the HSE appearance-contingent .

• People with HSE perceived themselves as attractive and likable.

• HSE appearance-contingent individuals may serve to maintain their already favorable self-perceptions of attractiveness and likeability.

• No increase to their sense of attractiveness for people with HSE.

Objectives:

To examine participants desire to engage in

appearance-boosting activities.

Using a more controlled threat. (similar to study 3)

Expected that LSE participants would show greater

motivation.

Method:

48 participants (24 women, 24 men) 1 female and 1 male in each session. Seated in separate rooms. Purpose of study was to…… They were brought together and then brought to

separate rooms again. Randomly assigned for either positive or negative

feedback. Manipulation checks and reported their desire to engage

in appearance activities. Debriefed and dismissed.

Results:• Effects of self-esteem, appearance CSW and

experimental condition, controlling for demographic variables and vanity .

Extension of findings of Study 5.

Key finding was the same:

LSE participants show greater interest in engaging appearance-boosting activities when their sense of physical attractiveness was threatened.

Desire may reflect a way of enhancing the self.

1. Aim of this research was to identify the immediate

motivational consequences of experiencing a threat to a

domain of contingent self-worth, and to examine how

these motivational consequences differed for people with

HSE versus LSE. Accordingly, the dependent measures

used captured a relatively direct, early-in-the-stream

portrayal of people’s motivations.

2. The studies reported here used relatively controlled and

unambiguous forms of self-threat.

1. Another limitation pertains to the generalizability of

the current findings.

2. Another interpretation, however, is that the

competence feedback .

1) Future studies should examine the extent to which

participants’ initial motivations lead to strategic behaviors

aimed at social acceptance and self-enhancement.

2) Future research might profitably examine whether self-

esteem and contingencies of self-worth shape people’s

tendency to view ambiguous social events as posing

particular kinds of threats.

3) Future studies would benefit from examining whether the

specific domain on which people stake their self-worth has

implications for the manner in which they cope with threat.

Threats to the intellective self may motivate endeavors to

restore one’s self-regard and sense of social belonging

(MacDonald & Leary, 2005). People with HSE, who tend to

feel positively regarded by others, responded to self-threat

in a socially optimistic fashion, by seeking to affiliate

directly with others as potential sources of reassurance and

affirmation. In contrast, people with LSE, who tend to feel

less positively regarded by others, responded in a socially

cautious manner, by seeking to withdraw from others and to

redress personal savors perceived to be deficient (i.e., by

enhancing their attractiveness).

Done by: Lithya Krishna

Edora Mayangsari

Chermaine Ng