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Enhancing self-esteem by directed-thinking tasks: cognitive and affective positivity asymmetries
1Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8205, USA.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
|June 1, 1996
Summary
Attitudes can be changed internally by emphasizing existing beliefs, rather than introducing new information. This study shows that focusing on positive self-characteristics enhances self-esteem due to a cognitive positivity bias.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Social Psychology
Background:
- Attitudes are organized within belief systems.
- Internal attitude change is possible without external information.
- A cognitive positivity bias influences stimulus evaluation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate internal attitude change by manipulating the salience of existing information.
- To test the cognitive positivity bias in self-evaluation.
- To explore how enhancing desirable or undesirable self-characteristics affects self-esteem.
Main Methods:
- Experiment 1: Correlated self-esteem with salient self-characteristics (possessed vs. lacked).
- Experiments 2 & 3: Used directed-thinking tasks to alter the salience of self-characteristics.
- Manipulated the salience of desirable and undesirable self-characteristics.
Main Results:
- Self-esteem was influenced more by possessed characteristics than lacked ones, supporting the positivity bias.
- Directed-thinking tasks successfully altered self-esteem by changing the salience of self-characteristics.
- Enhancing the salience of desirable self-characteristics increased self-esteem.
Conclusions:
- Attitudes and self-esteem can be modified internally by adjusting the salience of existing beliefs.
- The cognitive positivity bias plays a significant role in self-evaluation.
- Internal manipulation of belief salience offers a pathway for attitude change.