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Defensive pessimism: harnessing anxiety as motivation
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
|December 1, 1986
Summary
Individuals can use defensive pessimism, a strategy of setting low expectations, to manage anxiety in risky situations, preventing performance deficits. This coping mechanism helps maintain performance when facing potential failure and threats to self-esteem.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Social Psychology
Background:
- Anxiety and low expectations can negatively impact performance in high-stakes situations.
- Previous research suggests a link between anxiety, low expectations, and performance deficits.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of defensive pessimism as a coping strategy in risky situations.
- To examine how low expectations influence anxiety and performance.
Main Methods:
- Experiment 1: Assessed defensive pessimism as a strategy for coping with anxiety.
- Experiment 2: Investigated the impact of interfering with defensive pessimism on performance.
Main Results:
- Defensive pessimism allows individuals to use low expectations to manage anxiety effectively.
- Interfering with the defensive pessimism strategy led to impaired performance.
Conclusions:
- Low expectations can be a beneficial coping strategy when mediated by defensive pessimism.
- Performance in risky situations is influenced by the coping strategies employed, not solely by anxiety levels or expectation settings.
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