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Self-ambivalence and resistance to subtle self-change attempts
Kenneth G DeMarree1, Kimberly Rios Morrison, S Christian Wheeler
1Department of Psychology, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA. ken.demarree@ttu.edu
Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin
|March 9, 2011
Summary
People
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Self-Concept Research
Background:
- Self-views are malleable to situational influences.
- Features making the self-concept susceptible to change are not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of objective self-ambivalence in susceptibility to subtle self-view change.
- To explore whether self-beliefs with both positive and negative features are more easily influenced.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments were conducted: self-esteem conditioning and outgroup stereotype priming.
- Objective and subjective ambivalence measures were used to assess self-beliefs.
- Susceptibility to subtle change inductions was measured.
Main Results:
- Increased objective self-ambivalence correlated with greater susceptibility to subtle self-view change.
- The consistency between dominant self-views and the change induction did not affect results.
- Effects were observed for objective ambivalence, not subjective ambivalence, when relevant to the induction.
Conclusions:
- Objective self-ambivalence, characterized by mixed positive and negative features, enhances malleability of self-views.
- Self-concept change is moderated by the degree of objective ambivalence in targeted beliefs.
- Findings highlight the importance of ambivalence in understanding the dynamics of self-perception and change.
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